My rabbit king
by Princess Thil Galel
Summary: When his beloved wife is nearly killed in an assassin's attack, Kazma the king of Oz must give up his throne to live as one of the rebel leader's hitmen in order to uncover his plot and save his kingdom. The only problem? His wife, Danica, is coming too!
1. Furry Morning

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

Furry morning

He'd gotten up before the sun had even risen, he'd been training for several hours, honing his skills to stay in peak form. Now as he attacked the punching bag with all his might his endurance began to falter, his breathing became labored and a sheen of sweat formed on his furry brow. Swinging his leg around for one last kick that sent the bag flying Kazma headed for the bathroom.

As the tub filled up he stripped out of his workout clothes, with a sigh he sank into the warm water up to his chin, and closed his eyes for a relaxing soak. His ears stayed alert even as his body rested, listening to the sounds of the birds singing outside the window as the breeze whispered in the trees and the soft murmur of the people down in the court yard below. He sat up with a grunt and grabbed the soap, he scrubbed his fur thoroughly, working out the knots and tangles before dunking under the water to rinse. Wiping the water from his eyes he reached for a towel to dry himself with, he stood as he rubbed his fur with the thick towel and stepped out of the tub.

He dressed quickly, straightening his goggles he went to his room to have breakfast, he quietly opened the door and slipped inside. He walked up to his bed and gazed down at the vision of beauty that lay there, a gorgeous black haired, fair skinned woman. Just as every morning after he got up, she clutched his pillow in her sleep while her legs lay tangled in the sheets, and her hair was tossed about wildly like ebony silk.

With a smile he slowly lifted the edge of the sheet to reveal her lily white feet, carefully lifting one he tickled the soul with a feathery light touch, when all she did was twitch slightly he ran his tongue slowly up from heel to toes and she squealed awake. He held on tightly as he continued to lick her skin while she tried desperately to pull herself free, but he was relentless with his attention to the tender flesh of her arches and she laughed until there were tears in her eyes. Thinking quickly she grabbed a pillow and threw it at his head, he stumbled back a step and she pulled her foot free.

Lifting the pillow off his head Kazma grinned with a chuckle, she'd tucked her feet back into the safety of the sheets while burying her face in the remaining pillow and let a smile peek out at him. He rounded the bed and sat beside her on the edge, the mattress bowed under his weight, causing her to slide until her bottom was pressed firmly against his hip, and, with a devilish smile, Kazma slid his hand up her side to tickle her ribs. She grabbed at his hands to defend herself from his close-range attack, but he kept squirming free to continue his torture, finally she gasped "Pl-Pl-Please! I-I-I ca-can't ta-hahahaha-take it!" she begged. Laughing nearly as hard as she was Kazma collapsed on her and buried his face in her hair "Good morning, did you enjoy your wake up call?" he asked as he nuzzled her neck with his nose, she smiled and kissed his forehead "Couldn't you just say 'good morning'?" she giggled, he rubbed her cheek with his "Where's the fun in that?" he teased and they both laughed.

He sat up, pulling her up with him then dragged her into his lap "Did you sleep well?" he asked and kissed each cheek then rubbed his nose to her's. She giggled and rubbed back "I slept wonderfully, how about you?" she replied and twirled the thick, soft fur of his chest with her finger, causing him to chuckle "Like a dream." he said. She stretched with a yawn and slipped off his lap "Is breakfast here yet?" she asked while rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Kazma stood and wrapped his arms around her waist "Out on the terrace." he said "Care to join me?" she covered his arms with her's "Of course." she said.

She grabbed her robe off the bedpost and slipped it on before allowing Kazma to lead her onto the terrace, he pulled out a chair for her then took his own across the table. Breakfast was pancakes, fresh fruits with yogurt, and sunflower seeds with milk and orange juice. Kazma poured a glass of OJ for himself then turned to her "Milk or juice?" he asked, she didn't answer but stared off into the city below "Danica, darling what is it?" She pointed out to the court yard "Isn't that Koyky?" she asked, he looked down into the parting mass of people and frowned. Lord Koyky was early, he wasn't supposed to be here for two days, this could only mean trouble "Looks like I'll be skipping breakfast Danica." he said "Someone decided to drop in a little too early."

Her face fell, Kazma lifted her chin "Don't look like that," he cooed and rubbed his nose on her's "I'll take care of this quickly, then be right back. Alright?" with a smile Danica kissed him gently and dragged her fingers through his fur "I understand, be careful." she said. He hurried down the halls, his long legs carrying him far and fast towards the throne room. He skid to a halt, his shoes squealing on the tiled floor as he stopped just outside to prepare himself "King Kazma, King Kazma!" called Chipper, he spotted the rabbit and rushed to his side "Oh there you are. My king, Lord Koyky is here to see you-I know he's a bit early but maybe you might still see him? After all he did come a long way to-" "I know he's here Chipper, Danica saw him from the terrace. I otta send him back without a word for disturbing me first thing in the morning, and I would if I didn't need that information he's got on the rebel leader." he cut in, the yellow squirrel looked close to panic but remained silent.

He threw the doors open, everyone inside became silent as he strolled up to his throne and sat down with an emotioless face "Lord Koyky, what is the meaning of you disrupting me at this hour, especially since you aren't due to have my audience until two days from now?" he demanded "If we weren't such good friends I would have tossed you out in the street myself!" Koyky bowed low before his feet "My sincerest apologies, my king. But I felt as if this newest information I recently acquired should be reported to you immediately." he replied humbly. Narrowing his eyes Kazma leaned forward slightly "What do you mean, what new information?" he demanded, Koyky glanced around nervously "May I approach the throne, my king?" he asked, Kazma nodded "You may."

He leaned forward as Koyky whispered quietly in his ear, as he listened his eyes widened with horror, and the last statement made his blood run cold. As it all began to sink in a sound came to his ears, like his worst fears had been brought it to life, his wife's scream.

"DANICA!"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Danica licked the milk from her glass off her lips, a sigh escaped her as she chewed a sunflower seed, Kazma's favorite, and she wished he didn't always have to rush off like he did. She knew he was up and gone before morning every day, even if he didn't know she knew and he'd been so careful to hide it, she could still feel his body suddenly disappear from her side in the hours just before dawn. Even during the daylight hours someone would come to call on him and drag him away, leaving her alone, but she tried not mind for it was his job and she couldn't always keep him at her side. She just wished to spend more time with her husband, more personal time, to be the wife he needed and deserved.

With another sigh she stacked up her dishes and went to clean up. Crossing to the basin and pitcher she poured the warm water into the bowl, for a moment she stared at her reflection and wondered why someone as handsome and beautiful as Kazma had chosen someone so average and plain like her, then splashed her face clean and dried off with a towel. She picked up her brush and began brushing her hair in front of the bathroom mirror, she mused how different her brush was from Kazma's comb and laughed when she remember the time he'd let her comb his fur.

After making sure she'd gotten all the knots out she clipped on her gold hoop, a crescent ring that clipped onto her bangs and hung over her forehead with a sapphire drop that hung just above her brows. She dressed in a pale sky blue dress with white sandles. She went to her jewelry box, opening it with a loving smile she took out a gold chain bracelet with sapphire beads and remembered how Kazma had given it to her when he asked her to marry him.

It had been one late summer night, he had been hosting a ball and invited her to come as his date. He'd waited until he had her alone then spirited her off into the garden for a moment of privacy. He lead her to an ivory gazebo at the heart of the garden, far from prying eyes and the ears of the gossipers, the second they stopped he'd crushed her to him in a kiss of fierce passion that left her gasping for air, and for him. Setting her on the bench he'd lifted her foot and slowly blazed a trail of kisses up her leg to mid-thigh, drawing up her skirt as he went and exposed her entire leg. He'd given her flesh a soft lick that dragged a moan up from deep within her, she'd been afraid he was going to seduce her right there in the open air of the garden, and he'd been doing a marvelous job of it when she suddenly felt something cool drape across her thigh. When she'd looked down as she touched it Kazma took her hand and gazed into her eyes while he asked for her hand.

She could remember every detail of that night, right down to the color of his carvet and the smell of his cologne. She clipped the bracelet on her wrist and kissed the beads out of habit, a little thing she did to always remember his kisses and sighed as she rubbed them against her cheek. Movement in the mirror on the box made her smile "That was fast Kazma," she said as she turned to face him "What exactly did he-" a knife gleamed in the morning sunlight, a scream ripped itself from her throat.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Kazma had never run so fast in his life, fear gave his feet wings and he flew up the stairs and down the hall, he slammed the door open "DANICA!" he yelled, but no answer came. His heart beat so fast and hard in his chest each breath hurt, his eyes darted around the room searching for his wife and he spotted her white sandals behind the bed. He rushed to her, relief flooding him at the thought of her being safe and only having misplaced his fears. And as he rounded the bedpost, his heart stopped.

Blood, the blood was everywhere. She was laying in a pool of her own blood, a knife lay on the floor beside her, the saw-edged blade was splattered with red. He couldn't breathe as he knelt beside her "Da...Danica?" he whispered and carefully cradled her head with his hand "Danica?" he said firmer, but she didn't respond "Danica!" he shouted. Chipper ran inside unnoticed by Kazma "King Kazma! King Kazma, whats happe-" he fell silent at the sight of his king kneeling in blood holding his wife, Kazma looked up at the sound Chipper gasping "Get a medic, now!" he ordered, the frightened squirrel disappeared as the first tears began to form in the great king's eyes.

Kazma sat at Danica's bedside for hours, it was late into the night and his eyelids were begining to droop, but he dare not close his eyes in fear of waking to find her gone. Again he jumped awake when his chin touched his chest, he looked up frantically to see his wife, she lay there unmoving, just as she had been since he'd brought her down to the clinic. He rested his forehead against her's, knowing that even now he could be moments away from losing her, it was only that morning he'd awoken her by tickling her with laughter in his arms, and yet it felt like a lifetime ago.

His tears dripped onto her eyelids then ran down her cheeks, he gently wiped them away only to shed even more "Danica, please wake up." he whispered "You can't leave me like this, you just can't, please you can't..." he broke down, sobbing silently with his cheek pressed to her's. He was coming apart at the seams, if she died he would forever blame himself. This had been what the rebel leader was planning to do, kill Danica to get to him. It was all HIS fault, he'd put the woman he loved in danger and now because of him she might be dying right in front of him.

"Ahem." Kazma looked up to see the medic Koten standing in the doorway, the monkey adjusted his glasses "Um, pardon me my king, but uh...I would like to check my lady's condition again before I retire for the night. If, that is, you're okay with that." he said. Kazma wiped his eyes quickly and nodded "Yes, of course." he said "Please do." Kazma paid the monkey little attention as he went about his work, he checked the computer and the IV, he checked Danica's pulse and wrote his findings down on a clipboard "Pardon me my king," said Koten "I have some good news." Kazma's ears perked straight up "What is it?" he asked, hardly daring to breathe. Koten adjusted his glasses again "If Lady Danica can make it though the night she'll survive, but the bad news is that right now she only has a fifty/fifty chance though the percent in her favor increases as the hours pass."

Kazma nodded grimmly, his was only half certain Danica would survive but half was better than nothing "I understand, thank you Koten." he said, then turned back to his wife. "One more thing, my king?" Koten asked, Kazma looked at the medic again "I understand how all this makes you feel, but you really should get some rest. When Lady Danica wakes up you may not get the chance to have a full night's sleep, you'll need to be at your full strength to help her recover, and, heaven forbid, you may need to protect her if she's attacked again." he said as he turned to leave "There's a spare bed behind the curtain if you wish to stay in here."

Kazma could only stare after the medic for a moment before smiling, silently thanking him Kazma dragged the other bed over to Danica's and stretched out beside her. He gently ran a finger down her cheek before closing his tired eyes and drifting off to sleep.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

A soft whisper teased at his ear "Kazma..." he blinked sleepily, not sure if he was awake or still dreaming. He decided he must be dreaming when Danica leaned over him in the soft sunlight, they were sitting up in the wide fork of a tree filled with tiny white flowers that rained down much like snow, she feathered kisses on his chest and tickled him under the chin. He remembered this day from only a month ago, they'd been on a picnic by the lake, just the two of them. He gently rubbed his fingers up and down the column of her neck "You're so beautiful, my love." he whispered softly, not wanting to ruin the moment by speaking too loudly. Danica shook her head "No I'm not, don't try to make me feel better." she said and rubbed his nose with her's "YOU'RE GORGEOUS, my love. I've never met a man-human or otherwise-as handsomely beautiful as you."

He cocked an eyebrow "You think I'm gorgeous?" he asked teasingly and kissed her throat "My love, I wasn't trying to make you feel better. When I say you're beautiful, I mean it with every word." Danica smiled at him, the sun framing her in a halo of gold, she truly looked like an angel. He slowly pulled her down to lay atop him with a long, slow, drugging kiss. She moaned softly as she tangled her fingers in his fur, he adored her, especially when she got like this, all hot and needy, and just for him. She pulled back, he looked up at her in confusion until she gently ran her fingers through the hair on his head. He closed his eyes to relax and enjoy Danica's attention.

"Kazma..." came the whisper again, he wished it would go away and leave him alone with his wife. "Kazma?" he paused a moment, that was Danica's voice calling his name, but why call him when she was laying on him? He slowly forced his eyes open, the sunlight and the flowers were gone but Danica was still softly stroking him, only now she was sitting propped up by pillows in an infirmary bed. He blinked again as everything came flooding back to him, "Danica?" he sat up and reached out to touch her cheek, but stopped in fear of this being another dream. She took his hand and rubbed it on her cheek, she kissed his palm "It's alright Fritz, I'll be okay." she said, her voice was so rough and weak he barely recognized it, if she hadn't called him by the private nickname she given him he would have swore it hadn't been her talking at all.

Kazma slowly cupped her face with the greatest of care, half afraid she would shatter like glass if he wasn't careful "Danica." he whispered softly and rested his forehead against her's as joyous tears filled his eyes "I thought I'd lost you my love, I've never been so terrified in my life." He kissed the corners of her mouth "I heard you calling me Fritz," she said, her voice sounded worse, if that was even possible "I tried to find you, but something kept dragging me back into the light. I told it I needed you, that you still needed me, then it let me go and I..." she stopped suddenly, breathing hard and she appeared to be in pain. Kazma pressed the heel of his hand to her breast, her heart was aflutter as she gasped deeply for each breath of air "Calm down darling, don't get excited." he said "We're together again, I won't leave you, I promise."

She nodded and leaned back with her eyes closed, he gently kissed her lips just to taste her sweetness and to feel her breath on his cheek to reassure himself that she was only asleep. He waited for Koten, knowing the medic would show up soon, and passed the time simply watching his wife sleep soundlessly. He didn't have to wait long, at seven o'clock sharp Koten strolled into the clinic, he looked from his clipboard to see Kazma staring at Danica "Oh, my king. I didn't realize you were up already." he said as he repeated his checklist from last night "Has there been any change in her condition my king?"

Kazma grinned up at the simian "Yes, a rather positive change. She woke up for a minute, and she spoke to me." The monkey's glasses nearly slipped off his face, Kazma wasn't surprised the news had shocked him, the would-be-killer had slashed Danica's throat. It had been no small miracle they'd missed hitting something vital. Koten shoved his glasses back up the bridge of his nose "I hadn't thought it possible for her to be capable of speech this early in recovery." he said matter-of-factly "But it wouldn't be wise of her to speak until her throat heals a little more, or she risks reopening the wound inside her windpipe."

Kazma only smiled down at Danica, nothing would ever be more beautiful, even like this. He gently stroked her hair, it felt like soft silk as it glided through his fingers "I vow on my life my darling, I shall never let anything like this happen to you again." he whispered against her ear "You'll always be safe by my side, and I will die to protect you. You are my life and this world won't mean a thing without you."

He planted a soft kiss to her forehead and left the room, he needed to speak to Koyky about disappearing.


	2. Of true love's bond and hair dye

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

**Hey guys, sorry its been a while-bad writer's block, you know how it is. Any who, here is the long awaited Chapter two. Please R&R, enjoy!**

Of true love's bond and hair dye

Kazma stuck his head under the running water, the excess dye rushing down the drain, he turned off the faucet and shook out his hair. With his head and shoulders still dripping wet he went to look in the mirror and stopped, he didn't recognize himself. He once white hair that had swept back was now yellow blond and hung in his face over his right eye.

With a smile he dried himself off, since he didn't look like himself he would be able to go along with his plan without someone noticing him as the king. He draped the towel over his wet shoulders as he stepped out of the bathroom, someone started clapping "Haha! Good job Kazma, not even your own mother wouldn't recognize you with that hair!" he turned toward the voice "Sensei?" he gasped. The old squid-like man stood in the doorway "So why the sudden transformation kid?" he asked, Kazma's heart pounded, he couldn't let his grandfather find out about his plan. If he knew he would never let Kazma go through with it. "Sensei I-!" he began, but Mansuke waved a hand to silence his grandson "Don't bother trying to hide it Kazma, I know about Danica." he said, Kazma stiffened "You...you know?" his voice shook slightly as he spoke.

The old squid nodded "Yes son, I know." he said "Even your mother knows someone was attacked yesterday, she's been out of her mind worrying about you and Danica. I myself was concerned for you kids so I asked Chipper and he told me everything." Mansuke's eyes were grave "How is she Kazma, is she going to make it?" he asked, the rabbit nodded slowly "Yes Sensei," he replied "She'll be alright. But she won't be able to speak until her throat heals a little more."

Kazma began drying his hair, concentrating on it rather than discuss Danica's brush with death with his teacher.

"Kazma."

He reluctantly looked at his grandfather "Yes sir?"

"I know what you're going to do son, I know you too well NOT to see whats coming from my only surviving grandchild." he said "You're going after this rebel leader, aren't you?" He couldn't lie to his grandfather, that was just wrong on so many levels. With his eyes on the tile floor he answered "Yes Sensei, I am." he said softly "No one's going to stop me, or change my mind. This rebel leader-this-this so called Death Slinger won't stop at anything to take my throne...my family...my life...even Danica away from me, and I can't let that happen. If he takes control he'll destroy us all!"

Mansuke simply watched the young king's expressions, there was anger and fear, but mostly love and determination. He sighed softly "I understand, just be careful." he said as he turned to leave "But tell your mother and wife first, don't leave them wondering."

Kazma sighed as he looked back at the mirror, his reflection was someone he didn't know, but this person could possibly be the only one who could protect everything. He placed a hand to the glass as he searched his own eyes "I know this is the only way, and I shouldn't doubt myself." he said, he turned his gaze to the picture of Danica sitting on the dresser "But I do, even with you counting on me. That doesn't matter though, I refuse to give up or back down...not while your in danger, my darling."

He picked up the frame and kissed her lips through the glass.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Danica blinked slowly in the bright light, her throat hurt and each breath was agony. She looked around the room, Kazma was nowhere to be seen, Chipper however, was sitting at the small table in the corner of the room playing cards "C-Chi..." she croaked, her voice cracking like glass in her throat. The little squirrel jumped and turned "La-lady Danica, you're awake!" he rushed to her side, when he reached her Danica took his hand which he gently squeezed back "My Lady, the king needed to complete a few tasks so he asked me to keep watch over you while he was away, and he wanted me to tell you not to speak and not to worry."

She smiled softly, even when he had other things to do Kazma always took care of her.

The door quietly slid open, Kazma peeked around the door to see Danica awake and smiling, the sight that was oh so normal, so simple, made him smile brightly. His wife was still alive, still with him, and still willing to smile. He crossed to her bedside and held her hand, he kissed her fingers "Good afternoon my darling," he whispered softly "Are you feeling any better?" Danica simply stared at him wide-eyed, completely confused. Kazma frowned, what was she looking at him like that for? Then it hit him, she was surprized by his hair, he felt like face-palming himself for forgetting his new look so fast. He brushed his bangs back "Like it?" he asked "I needed to look different, so I dyed my hair."

Danica opened her mouth to speak, before she could Kazma sealed her lips with a tender kiss, he broke away and trailed a finger across her lips "No talking my darling, its bad for your throat." he said softly "I'll explain everything."

"The rebel leader goes by the name Death Slinger, he's the one whose been kidnapping animals and murdering them, and he also sent the assassin who did this," he gently drew the tip of his finger along the bandages on her neck "And I'm going to go after him. I'll be joining his underground organization under a new identity, Lord Koyky has a spy who can get me an audience with the leader, and I'll posing as a street fighter."

Danica's eyes widened, she suddenly couldn't breathe, her heartbeat roared in her ears like an inferno. She shook her head furiously and clasped his hand tightly, clenching his fingers so hard they started to go numb _No!_ she mouthed. He couldn't be serious, he was only teasing her, he HAD to be! If he went along with this insane plan he was likely to get himself killed.

Kazma placed his other hand on her cheek soothingly "Danica, I have to do this. If I don't more people will die, I can't let that happen." he said, she shook her head hard. With a finger she traced the symbol of infinity on his chest and then on her own, she laced their fingers together and kissed each of his fingers as tears flooded down her cheeks, her eyes said everything her voice couldn't.

_You can't do this. You and I promised each other forever, I'm always here for you-even in this. If you go, I go with you._

Kazma's heart, and his inner defenses, began to crumble "Danica, you can't come." he said firmly "I won't take you into certain danger, especially after he tried to kill you in our own home!"

Danica glared at him through the tears, she suddenly twisted his wrist and yanked him down to whisper in his ear "Yes...I...AM!"

As he was about to counter her, Chipper-who had been standing quietly in the corner-spoke out "Um, excuse me my king?" he said, both Kazma and Danica looked up as he spoke "Since only the few people you've told, and your grandfather that I told, no one else knows Lady Danica is even alive. Perhaps the safest place for her is by your side as close to the enemy as possible-it would be the last place the rebel leader would look for her."

Danica smiled triumphantly at Kazma and gave Chipper a thank you wink.

Kazma sighed and rolled his eyes, knowing he was beaten "Alright my darling, I'll take you with me." he said "But! You must do everything I tell you or we'll both end up dead, you'll have to wear a disguise and change your name. Can you handle all that?" Danica waved it off, meaning it'd be easy.

She twirled a finger in a lock of his blonde hair and tilted her head to one side, her question quite clear. _And what is your new name?_

He smirked "Call me Fritz, my darling." he said "You'll still be my wife, but you'll need a fake name..." he ran his fingers through her hair. _Soft as ebony silk..._"Ebony," he murmured "My darling Ebony. What do you think?"

Danica turned the name over in her mind, then with a smile she nodded.

It was settled. No longer were they Kazma and Danica-the king and queen of Oz, now they were Fritz the street-fighter and his wife Ebony the dancer.

**Well, thats it for this chapter. Hope you liked it. Tell me what you think, what you like-and what you didn't like. Until next time, Bye-bye!**


	3. Going underground

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

Please enjoy and R&R

**Hello my dear readers, Gale here. Thanks so much for sticking with me this long, I'll try not to disappoint. So any way, here's chapter 3. Read and enjoy!**

Going underground

Kiyomi, Kazma's mother, sat in her bed reading a new book. Only, she couldn't focus on the story, her thoughts kept wandering to Kazma and Danica. What had happened, and why wouldn't anyone tell her anything? With a sigh she rubbed a hand over her swollen belly, in just a short time her daughter would be born, she prayed she was healthy. She had given birth to seven children, all stillborn, only Kazma had survived-her last born.

Now once again her thoughts went back to her son, a rather bad cycle.

Her bedroom door creaked open slightly "Mom?" came her son's voice "Are you awake?" With a smile Kiyomi set aside her book "Come on in Kazma, I'm so glad you're here. I've been so w-" she stopped, her voice dying in her throat, only to return moments later "Kazma Carthian Ikezawa! What in Oz did you do to your hair!"

He blushed slightly with a nervous laugh, this was going to be fun...NOT!

He scratched the back of his neck "Well, there's a funny story behind that..." he told her everything. When he finish she burst into tears, hugging him tightly "Oh Kazma!" she wailed "My poor baby, why you? Why can't you send someone else-why must it be you?"

With a quiet sigh he stepped out of her arms to meet her eyes "Mom you know I can't send any but myself into this, it has to be me." he said, his tone firm but soft, he smiled gently at his mother as she dabbed her eyes dry "I'll be back in time to hold my little sister on her birthday." as Kiyomi began crying again Kazma bid her farewell.

She watched her only child walk out her bedroom door with a sence of dread, deep in her chest Kiyomi knew this would be the last time she'd ever see her son again, but she shook the feeling away. No, she WOULD see him again, even if it was the last thing she did.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

**Several weeks later**

Kazma laced up his brown combat boots, he wore tan army fatigues and a dark green muscle shirt. He wrapped his arms in thick black bandages that covered his upper- and forearms, his black fingerless gloves had pyramid studs on the knuckles-if he busted someone while wearing these, he'd leave them with more than a few bruises. He ran his fingers through his shaggy yellow-blonde hair, his bangs hung over the right eye-giving him a mysterious yet handsome and warrior-like appearance.

He pressed his hands to his lower back, leaning back slightly his spine popped and he sighed "Thats the spot." he murmured, he yawned softly and stood. He could hear Danica singing in the bathroom, her voice restored to its original beauty. For a moment he closed his eyes as he listened, the song carried him away to a world of peace and left him slightly dazed when her singing became humming.

Blinking to awaken from the enchanting spell he reached for the glass of orange juice sitting on the bedside table, he tipped it back to drain the contents as Danica slipped out into the room. He heard the clink of something when she moved, bracelets maybe? He saw her stop out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't quite see her as he neared the bottom of his glass, he caught a flash of red and the glimmer of gold. His brow furrowed in frustration, he turned his head slightly as the last of his juice washed over his tongue and nearly choked.

Forcing down the coughing fit that rose in his chest Kazma stared at his wife in awe. Her long black hair now had tiny braids with scarlet and gold, one thin and one thick earring in each ear, a gold headdress with red droplets hanging over her forehead, gold bangles and armbands, and gold curl-toed shoes. As for what she was wearing? It put a genie to shame. A red bra-like top with gold spangles and designs with matching harem pants and vest.

As he stared she watched him, a smile curling playfully on her lips. She tied a red face veil on and put her hands on her hips "Do you like it?" her tone teasing, he reached her in a single stride and pulled her flush against him. He looked deep into her chocolate brown eyes, they seemed to faintly glow in the red of her clothes "You look..." he began, then shook his head "There are no words worthy of describing your beauty, my darling."

Danica blushed under the veil, his attention always made her feel so shy-like a little school girl seeing her first boyfriend. He smiled down at her in a daze of love, he buried his nose in her hair with a sigh, breathing in her scent and daydreaming about-"Kazma?" He blinked, Danica was twirling a lock of his hair around her finger and gazing at him with half-lidded eyes. Kazma kissed her forehead tenderly before taking a small step back "Sorry," he chuckled "It seems some times I just can't keep my hands off you my darling, you tempt me so badly."

She giggled "You didn't really answer me my love, do I look the part?" He tilted his head as he studied her, a smile curled his lips "I'd say so my darling." he said "Now, lets be on our way. Koyky's spy is waiting to take us right to Death Slinger's court." He wrapped an arm around her waist and lead her out their bedroom door.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Kazma held on tightly to Danica's hand as Koyky's spy, a red-eyed black rat named Tasuke, lead them through the back streets of the city. They dodged mud and trash while remaining silent, Kazma squeezed her hand to make certain she was alright, after recovering from her injury Danica shouldn't be doing any of this but here she was, returning the squeeze warmly.

Tasuke stopped and held up a hand, signaling them to stop as well "Alright," he whispered to them "Just down this alley is a door, when I knock three times it'll open. When it does you two come in behind me, no matter what don't look at anyone, just follow me and I'll introduce you two as a new dancer for the court's entertainment and a fighter looking for hitman work. Got all that?"

Kazma nodded "Yes, we've got it." he said "But will it really be that simple?" Tasuke scratched behind his ear "Well, for Ebony it will. For you, well, Death Slinger may want to test your metal-you might have to fight someone." Kazma set his jaw and nodded "If they're working for him then I'll have no problem kicking the crap out of them."

"And if they don't?" asked Danica.

Kazma turned to his wife, her face blank "Then I'll just knock them out without hurting them." he answered, and she smiled with a nod. Tasuke cleared his throat "If your little lovey-dovey moment is over, may we continue?" he asked curtly, Kazma shot him a glare but nodded.

The rat took a deep breath and knocked thrice on the door, a panel on it slid open then shut, and then the door opened. Tasuke walked inside with Kazma and Danica close behind, just as he'd said them met no one's eyes and kept their gaze on Tasuke's feet. The hallway was long and dark and let out into a huge circular room that could easily match the ballroom in the palace, four sets of stairs lead down to the floor of the pit that took up most of the place and both down in the pit and around the upper edge were tables filled with people- some animal, some human.

"Come on." Tasuke lead them into the pit, Kazma's ears twitched slightly as all his senses flared in alertness to the danger lurking around them, the rat stopped before an oversized armchair. In the chair sat a human man with brown hair and a vile smirk, he leaned back lazily with his chin propped up on his hand "What rat?" he said "Can't you see I'm in no mood to deal with a lowly garbage picker like you?" Tasuke simply bowed his head "Of course your greatness, I apologize, but I have brought something for you Oh Great Death Slinger."

Death Slinger sighed with boredom, until Tasuke gestured a tall, fierce-looking white rabbit and a dancer with creamy white skin and black hair dressed as a genie forward. The woman was gorgeous, she could clearly have any man she wanted looking like that. So why the heck was she clinging to that dumb RABBIT'S hand? The light in her chocolate brown eyes showed her clear intelligence, and with a body like that as a dancer she would make some pretty big tips. And yet she was with an animal? A rabbit no less! It didn't make sence.

He glared down at them, the rabbit stared straight ahead while the woman looked at him-neither looking at him. "Well?" said Death Slinger "Who are they?" Tasuke bowed again and placed his hand on the rabbit's "This is Fritz, your greatness, he's an undefeated street-fighter from the edge of Oz." he moved to the woman as he continued "And this is Ebony, a rather famous dancer from the same place. I've brought them here to you as a new fighter in your ranks, and a new dancer to entertain you at court."

Death Slinger looked at the rabbit "You, blondey." he said "It's Fritz, isn't it? Tell me, are you any good? Cause you look pretty pathetic to me, animal."

*(A/N After this Kazma will be referred to as Fritz in public, same with Danica as Ebony.)

Fritz stood straight and tall like a soldier "Yes sir, I can beat anyone I'm up against." he said "And my wife, Ebony, is the best dancer you'll ever see-I guaranty it your greatness." Death Slinger sneered slightly "At least you know who your superior is." he mocked " I'll take the lady in, but Cotton-tail here needs to prove he's not full of hot air."

He snapped his fingers, a dingo standing by his side stepped forward "This is Riichi, my right hand, and he's also the strongest fighter in my court." he said, Ebony suddenly clenched Fritz's hand like she ment to break his fingers and whispered so softly only his keen ears could hear _"That's him! He's-he's the one!"_

Death Slinger smirked down at Fritz "If you want to live to see tomorrow _and_ become one of my men, you'll have to defeat Riichi in one-on-one combat." he said "But don't worry, when you die I'll take good care of your widow." he laughed.

Fritz clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his gloved palms, he was going to fight the one to tried to murder his wife.

**Well, watcha think? This is only the beginning, next chapter! Fritz fights the assassin, dual to the death!**


	4. Rabbit VS Dingo: Dual to the death

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

Please enjoy and R&R

**Hey everyone, it's Gale here. I hope you've been enjoying my story, it's going to get pretty long so hold with me on this. Here's chapter 4, I hope you love it!**

Rabbit VS. Dingo: Dual to the death!

Everyone's attention immediately shifted to the pit as the fighters took up positions opposite to each other on the straw mat. Fritz and Riichi set their shoes aside, they stared each other down, deep unbridled rage burned in the rabbit's eyes along with a promise for revenge. Fritz's outer appearance was calm and placid, but inside he was trying to quelch his anger and hatred, if he wasn't careful it would consume everything in it's path, including his rational thinking.

He took a deep breath while closing his eyes, a picture of Danica on their wedding day came into his mind and instantly his body relaxed. Slowly opening his eyes Fritz set his stance for battle.

Riichi smirked, this rabbit actually thought he could beat him. Him! The right hand of Death Slinger. This kid was out of his mind, either that or he was just plain stupid. With a sense of certain victory wedged firmly in his mind, Riichi charged.

He leaped high above Fritz's head, aiming to slam his heel down on the rabbit's skull and bring him an instant death. But Fritz didn't flinch, he simply stepped back, the dingo's foot sailing a mere inch away from his chin. Riichi's kick slammed down on empty air, his eyes widened in surprise, as did everyone else's, Fritz stepped back into place and landed a close-range kick between his stomach and chest. The force sent the dingo flying across the pat, he lay dazed in a coughing fit as Fritz watched and waited, his expression brought forth the image of the still surface of a lake-calm in appearance but, just underneath a hidden danger lurked, ready to strike when the moment was right.

Inhaling deeply the dingo growled menancingly "You'll pay for that!" he snarled, and launched himself at Fritz again. But unlike before, Fritz didn't dodge, instead he let Riichi get in close and smacked his fists aside as he threw punch after punch at the rabbit. Frustrated that he wasn't turning this insulting little punk into a bloody pulp, Riichi aimed a fist at Fritz's head. Fritz blocked the strike and let the momentum add to the speed of his own attack, he swung a leg up and slammed his heel into the side of the dingo's jaw as he pivoted on his hands and flipped out of striking range.

Blood splattered the mat at Ebony's feet, and resting between her curly-toed shoes was a gleaming white canine tooth. She slowly reached down and retrieved it, sitting in the middle of her palm was the tooth of the man who had tried to take her life-the tooth her husband had broken out of his mouth. She met his gaze for the briefest moment, the smile on his face and the gleam in his eyes said everything.

_Got that just for you, no one can hurt you ever again my darling._

The dingo clutched his throbbing maw, his tongue prodded the empty space in his gums and he wirled on the rabbit, attacking with blind fury. Fritz side-stepped, ducked, and dodged each blow-noting they got sloppier with every strike.

Now Fritz was getting bored, playing with an idiot wasn't even worth the effort, and all he wanted to do at this point was make this demon hurt like he'd made his wife hurt-only so much more.

As Riichi swung a leg up Fritz caught it against his side, holding him in an iron grip with a smirk of satisfaction. In swift, fluid motions Fritz struck like a cobra. He slammed the heel of his hand into the dingo's chest, then his elbow into his stomach-causing him to double over, Fritz released him and leaped with a mid-air spin and kicked the same side of his head. Riichi smashed into the stone wall, the surface cracking around him as he slid to the floor, unconscious.

For a moment everyone was silent, stunned by what they had just witnessed, the strongest fighter in the court, Death Slinger's very own right hand had been beaten by a rabbit. After a short pause, Fritz turned to retrieve his shoes.

Ebony's sudden harsh gasp made him look up sharply, in the reflection of her eyes he saw Riichi just behind him, a knife in his hand was raised to plunge into his back. Anger burned in him, had this demon no honor? Turning with a cry of fury Fritz back-handed him across the face with his fist, completely forgetting about the pyramid studs on his gloves. Riichi clutched his face screaming in agony, three long, deep, bloody gashes spread across one cheek and the flesh of his left eye was shredded. He would lose that eye, a fitting punishment for his crimes.

Several dogs rushed to their ailing friend's side, they growled threateningly at Fritz, but the sound of a sudden snap of fingers stopped everything. All eyes turned to Death Slinger, a lazy smile stretched across his face "Very impressive, no one has ever beaten Riichi before. You'll be useful as my new right hand, welcome aboard Fritz." he said, Riichi moaned in pain on the floor, he turned to the dogs around him "Get that thrash out of here, he's staining the mat. If he lives, dump him. I have no use for damaged goods."

They dragged the dingo away while he begged for a second chance, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Even though he'd done something unforgivable to his wife Fritz felt a twinge of sympathy for the dingo, he hadn't meant to blind him and no one should be treated like dirt, but perhaps this was the way of his retribution. The will of God was something no one can escape.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Fritz lay back against the large stack of pillows off to one side of the pit, Ebony lay between his legs napping with her head on his stomach and the tooth held loosely in her grip. He carefully eased it out from between her fingers, he turned it this way and that, examining the tooth, judging by the look it was a canine from his upper jaw. He tested it's sharpness against his finger, it was a surprise when a bead of blood swelled up under the tip, he sucked his fingertip as he tucked the tooth away in his pocket.

Ebony shivered and snuggled closer, he grabbed a nearby blanket and tossed it over them. She moaned softly as she buried her face into his shirt, he sighed as he stroked his fingers through her hair and thought about what he'd gotten himself into. He'd be a bodyguard to a murderer, his right hand, his adviser. Now even his wife was in this cage of death and danger, but if he played his cards right he'd have that monster by the throat soon enough.

With a sigh he leaned back into the plush mountain and closed his eyes. For now they'd be sleeping in the pit, which served as a common room, until Riichi's room was cleared out for him to use. But he could care less at the moment, he was tired and he was lay on soft pillows with his wife, he couldn't do anything but drift off to sleep with his arms around Ebony's waist.


	5. The bodyguard, the thief, and the dancer

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

R&R

The bodyguard, the thief, and the dancing genie

Ebony held a tray with one hand and a cup in the other, part of her job was acting as a waitress during the afternoon and dancing at night. She placed a meal on the table in front of Mansaku, a dalmatian, and set the cup in front of the doberman, Yorihiko. They said nothing to her, nor did they look at her. In fact, no one had so much as smiled, or scowled, at her all day.

She walked behind the bar and stepped into the kitchen, with a sigh she dumped the dirty dishes in the sink to soak, "Whats on your mind?" asked Naomi, she was the bar wench, a blue cat with dazzling green eyes. Ebony folded her arms "It seems like everyone is afraid of me." she replied "Whenever I get near them things go suddenly quiet, they all do everything to keep from looking me in the eye."

The cat grinned, showing a surprising amount of teeth "I think that's because of your man." Ebony frowned, what did Fritz have to do with it? Naomi understood the look on her face "Your husband is the second in command honey, aside from Death Slinger himself that bunny outranks everyone else here, meaning he can do what he wants." when Ebony continued to frown the cat decided to get a little more detailed "Meaning if one of these guys around here think to get a bit fresh with you, and Cotton-tail hears about it, he could make them disappear and no one would say a word. It's that simple, the way they see it, they stay quiet, they stay alive."

She gasped "They think Fritz would kill them?" the cat nodded and handed Ebony a full tray "This goes to the table by the stairs."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Fritz cracked his stiff neck, a full day of guarding a wanted criminal wasn't easy. His own guards had caught up to them in the square, he'd knocked four out and kicked one through a fruit stand. Now, as they returned to the court, everything hurt.

He immediately went to the mountain of pillows he'd slept on last night and flopped down into plush relief, his eyes slid shut as he relaxed while he slowly began to drift off. But just as sleep was beginning to settle in he felt something move against him, his eyes fluttered open instantly, Ebony sat beside him with a tray filled with food. As he opened his lips to speak his stomach growled loudly instead, he smiled almost shyly as she laughed softly "I guess you are hungry," she said as she set the tray in his lap, she picked up an apple slice and held it up to his lips "Here, freshly picked my love." His parted his lips for her, when half the slice was in his mouth Ebony leaned forward to take the other half in her's and their lips came together in around the apple.

Her lips were soft and sweet, she slowly pulled back as she swallowed her half and Fritz did the same. Someone whistled, several of the dogs started laughing and giving Fritz suggestive winks. It seemed like they would continue until Fritz glared at them while cracking his knuckles, immediate silence followed. Ebony was stunned, a simple gesture as harmless as it had been, brought complete and total respect out of the rough and tumble men of rogue's court.

She smiled while rolling her eyes "You know they're afraid you." she stated, he plucked a grape off the tray and popped it in his mouth "I know, as they very well should be." he said, he lowered his voice so only she could hear "In my normal position I'd lock the lot of them away for life for aiding in mass murder and obstructing justice by hiding and defending a killer. Let them shake in their boots, I'll have them behind bars soon enough."

As the evening dragged on and dinner was served Death Slinger called for the nightly entertainment, people juggled and joked and even did a few magic tricks. But the thrill of it quickly faded for him "I've seen all this before," he said "Why don't we see something new? What do you say boys, should we get our new dancer on the stage?"

Shouts of approval roared through the room, people started rhythmically banging their cups on the tables, demanding to see Ebony dance. Death Slinger turned to Fritz sitting in a chair next to his with his wife leaning her hip against his side "What do ya say Fritz? Ya willing to share the lady?" he teased, Fritz looked up at Ebony "Your choice my darling." he said softly, and with a smile she crossed to the middle of the pit.

The crowd roared louder as she stood with her back to the fire pit, with a simple gesture to the band everything became silent. Her eyes closed as she crossed her wrists high over her head, for dancers it was a call for silence and attention, she rose up onto the balls of her feet and became perfectly still. Collectively, the room held it's breath as they waited, every body leaned forward slightly on it's own accord. The anticipation build in the few brief seconds of pause. Then the music exploded forth from the band like water escaping from behind a dam, and Ebony burst into action.

Her eyes snapped open, the chocolate brown had became black with flickering red shadows. She leaped forward, hair flying out around her as she spun on her toes, the gold along her body shimmered in the firelight. All eyes watched each movement intently, none could look away. They had never seen a dance like this, not even Fritz had seen his wife move like that in a dance-or at least, not in public or anything so sensual.

As she continued to move, she slowly slid her vest off her shoulders, revealing more skin for a tantalizing view. Fritz's mouth watered, his mind tracing back to the apple slice from that afternoon and how she'd been curled up with him that same morning-practically sleeping on top of him-and he had to swallow hard past the sudden lump in his throat.

No woman was more beautiful than his wife, none so kind or caring.

But then, at the moment the thought had crossed his mind, she looked right into the depths of his eyes and he felt the sparks fly. Her gaze said it all, she wasn't dancing for these men, she wasn't dancing for the sake of their mission, and she clearly wasn't dancing just to dance.

She was dancing just for him.

His heart swelled at the thought. Then the light bulb went of in his head, she was seducing him in a public display. A grin broke out across his face, he'd learned his room had been prepared a few hours ago, and he planned to make good use of it.

Ebony twirled dangerously close to the leaping flames of the fire, her fingers nearly brushing the red tongues as they reached for the ceiling but she danced closer still. Just as the crowd all opened their mouths to shout a warning Ebony did the unthinkable, she jumped over the fire.

Time slowed to a crawl as they looked on, the flying embers swirled around her like fireflies, making the red and gold of her clothes come alive with light and the braids in her hair flew through the blackness like comets in the midnight sky.

She landed, turned back to face the crowd, and bowed low.

Dead silence.

The room suddenly exploded with applause. Ebony picked up her vest from where it lay on the floor and promptly sat on Fritz's lap, she wiped the sweat from her brow and leaned back against him. Turning her head slightly she kissed his cheek "Did I do good?" she asked, Fritz wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her neck "You were enchanting, my darling." he murmured against her skin "But you scared the living daylights out of me with the fire jumping stunt."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Kazma tossed and turned in the bed, he couldn't sleep, his entire body ached. He hadn't been able to preform his morning forms, to properly ready his muscles for a hard day of fighting, and now he was paying the price. With a sigh he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, he rested his elbows on his knees while squeezing the back his sore neck.

Long, soft, warm arms slid around his neck, he turned his head slightly to see Danica up on her knees behind him. She gently kissed his cheek, her hands wandering along his bare chest "Whats wrong my love? You haven't stopped moving since we layed down." she said in a sleepy little voice, "I thought you were asleep." he said "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep, my darling."

Danica slowly shook her head "Not until you tell me." she replied "Are you hurting? You feel really tense." her hands replaced his own on his neck, she dug her thumbs in between the joints where neck met shoulder. He groaned softly, it just felt so GOOD. Her talented fingers kneaded his flesh as his head dropped forward with sighs of content, she rubbed her knuckles deeply between his shoulder-blades and he gasped in surprise when his spine popped softly, but the relief it brought made his entire body suddenly go limp.

Danica laughed softly while running a hand down his spine "Did that help?" she asked, Kazma shifted to rest his head on his pillow and smiled up at his wife "My darling, I thank God for you every day of my life."

Her hands slipped under his side and forced him to roll on to his stomach, she was suddenly straddling his waist "Danica?" he asked confused, he turned his head but she pushed him back down into the pillow and he chuckled "What are you doing?" She didn't answer, instead she let her fingers do the talking. She began to knead at his back, causing his muscles to lax and he moaned into the pillow as the wonderful sensation reverberated deep in his flesh and bones alike. Pressing the heel of her hands into his lower back he suddenly arched up with a harsh gasp, the crack ringing in his ears, he buried his face deeper in his pillow while biting his lip "God that felt so good," he murmured "Will you do my legs next?"

She giggled and pressed against him, she feathered a kiss on his neck, causing him to smile. Her lips brushed the furred rim of his ear, her breath tickling the sensitive little hairs at the base, "Of course," she whispered "You know I'd do anything for you, my love. Anything."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Kazma woke up feeling like he was in heaven, and he was pretty close to it all things considered. He blinked slowly, looking through his yellow-blond bangs he smiled sleepily at his slumbering angel, she had somehow managed to steal his shirt in the late night and her fingers were entangled in the fur of his chest. He slowly pried himself free of her iron-like hold and slipped out of bed, he pulled on a black T-shirt and his favorite pair of jeans and quietly left the room in search of breakfast.

The dark halls were empty, lit only by the few soft glowing lights above. He inhaled deeply, the warm and delicious smell of cooking food drifting out from the kitchen drew him in, he pushed the door open quietly and slipped in unnoticed. Naomi didn't see him come in, nor did she notice him picking an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter just behind her, and so she started at the loud crunch of his teeth on the red fruit's crisp flesh. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes she glared at him "Good lord rabbit!" she scolded "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

He snickered despite himself "Sorry, I'm just hungry." he took another chunk out of the apple, Naomi suddenly had a smirk on her face as she watched him "I guess you really like apples, huh?" she said, he swallowed before answering "Well, actually my favorite fruit is an orange. Why do you ask?" She giggled as she turned back to the stack of dirty dishes she'd been washing "Oh, just wondering. After that little fruity lip-lock you and Ebony had yesterday," she winked at him over her shoulder "Not to mention all that noise I heard coming from your room this morning when I walked by. So I'm just thinking out loud here, but it sounded like someone slept good last night."

His face turned slightly pink "That wasn't what you think," he murmured "I usually stretch first thing in the morning, but since I didn't get a chance to my muscles started aching pretty badly, and what you heard was Ebony giving me a massage." Naomi raised an eyebrow "That good is she?" she chuckled "At first I couldn't tell if you were dying or you'd gone to heaven."

Fritz laughed "Definitely heaven." he tossed the apple's core into the trash, then picked up a cloth and started drying the clean dishes "So your name's Naomi, right? Thanks for helping my wife settle in yesterday." He noticed she had stopped washing to stare at him "What?"

"Your nothing like what I expected."

"Well, what did you think I'd be like?"

She went back to her washing as she answered "I thought you'd be like all the other guys down here, rude and full of yourself, unfaithful to your wife, and a ruthless murderer."

Fritz didn't reply, he only continued to dry the dishes.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Danica stretched with a yawn, she reached out, but her hand touched only air. Her eyes opened, Kazma was gone. Just like always.

She sat up while rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Kazma's shirt was baggy on her slender form as she stood but she lost herself in the scent of her husband.

She went into the bathroom and brushed her hair. As she looked in the dresser for something to wear she began humming to herself, her hips swishing to the tune in her head.

A loud crash, quickly followed by shouts came from the hallway. Without caring that she was clad in only Kazma's shirt she ran out of their room. The noise moved to the pit, she followed, her bare feet turning numb on the icy cold stone floor. There was a small group on the upper edge of the pit, they had someone cornered against the wall. Somewhere in the mob a fist made contact with another body, a grunt of pain was followed by a spray of blood. That was when Ebony saw who it was, it was a young boy, barely thirteen years old, and he was being beaten while he was trapped.

Only one thought crossed her mind, getting to that boy. She rushed up the stairs and shoved her way through the men, she set herself between them and turned on them with a fury "Stop it!" she yelled, her rage building at the thought of these full grown men roughing up a small child "How dare you! How dare you lay a hand on him, you heartless brutes, HOW DARE YOU!"

One of them grabbed her arm "Get out of the way or your next." he growled, Ebony snatched out of his grip "Don't you put your filthy hands on me." She noticed out of the corner of her eye that the others were backing away, one of them tapped the man in front of her "Dude back off, you don't know who that is." he warned, but the man slapped the other's hand away "I don't CARE who she is, or the brat. No one disrespects me and gets away with it!"

He raised a fist to strike, Ebony shielded the boy and felt the sting of his punch on her cheek. Blood dripped from her lips, but she wouldn't budge. He threw another punch at her head, but it never made contact.

Fritz twisted the man's arm around his back and slammed him against the wall, he jerked the pinned arm hard, his anger burning like wildfire inside "I see you're new around here buddy, so I'll let you in on a little secret." he said harshly "That's my wife you just hit, and I don't tolerate another man laying a hand on her. As for me, I'm the second in command around here, Death Slinger's right hand, and if I EVER catch you so much as frowning at her again I'll make certain you never see daylight again!" Fritz threw the man down the stairs and looked at the others "Get him out of my sight, please." his voice had suddenly changed back to his normally gentle self. To them it was more frightening than his rage and they quickly grabbed their friend and ran.

Fritz turned to his wife, he gasped when he saw the blood dripping down her chin "My darling," he said as he gently cupped her reddening cheek "Does it hurt real bad?" she shook her head "No, I'm fine. But him..." she turned to the boy, his dark tan skin was turning ashy pale. He had chocolate brown hair and eyes and he was rather thin but still tall enough that his head reach Ebony's chest. Ebony gently brushed his bangs out of his eyes "Are you alright honey, did they hurt you?" she spoke softly as she ran her nails slowly over his scalp soothingly, his nose was bleedlng but not broken and he was covered in bruises.

"I-I'm sorry." he blurted out, she smiled kindly at him "It's not your fault honey, you didn't do anything wrong-"

"But I did!"

He held out his hand to reveal a sandwich wrapped in plastic, the hand holding it was trembling "See? I did it, I stole from him." he confessed, tears sparkled unshed in his eyes "I'm the reason he hit you."

Ebony wrapped him in a hug "Oh honey, it's okay." she said as she cradled his head to her chest "You didn't mean for it to happen, and I wouldn't let that horrible man hurt you. It's not your fault." At first he was stiff, unsure what to do, then he threw his arms around Ebony to hold her tightly whispering "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Danica looked at Kazma, a smile glowing in her eyes "My love, I'm going to take him to the kitchen. That sandwich is no good if that awful thing touched it." Kazma fought back the laugh building in his throat "I think I should take him, while you go get some clothes on." She suddenly looked down, Kazma's huge muscle shirt barely reach her thighs and the low cut front reveal a large portion of her chest. With a yelp she covered herself with her arms as best she could "I completely forgot!" she gasped, turned back to the boy "What's your name honey?"

"Kazuma." he mumbled. Danica smiled, that was one letter away from 'Kazma' "It's nice to meet you Kazuma, I'm Ebony and this is my husband Fritz. He's going to take you to get something to eat while I got get some real clothes on, is that okay with you?" He nodded slowly "Yes ma'am."

She kissed his forehead and ran back to the room before everyone caught her in a short T-shirt and her underwear.


	6. The lonely child

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

Enjoy, R&R!

The lonely child

Fritz sat across from the child as he devoured his food, he ate like he couldn't get it down fast enough. He drained a glass of juice and started shoveling eggs into his mouth once more. Fritz said nothing as he peeled the skin off an orange, he watched the boy from under his yellow-blond bangs and took a bite out of his fruit "You know," he said "Its not going to run away from you if you slow down. You'll end up making yourself sick eating that fast."

The boy froze, the fork half way to his lips. He looked down at his plate and nodded "Yes sir, sorry." he murmured and continued eating at a much slower pace. The rabbit smiled and playfully ruffled the boy's hair "It's okay kid, I understand." Kazuma smiled behind his food, no one had ever acted like this toward him before, and it felt kind of nice.

He yawned and rubbed the crusted blood off his nose, Fritz handed him a damp washcloth "Here, clean your face up and you can go take a nap." Kazuma stared at him in stunned awe "Take a nap? In the middle of the day?"

Fritz stood "Sure, why not?" he said, he took the dirty dishes to the sink and dumped them in. He opened the door and gestured for the boy to follow, Kazuma stepped out into the hall ahead of Fritz "So, where are we going?" he asked shyly, Fritz placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and pressed him gently to his side as several men from the earlier incident walked past. He glared fiercely at them, and they understood the meaning behind it.

Touch the boy, and you pay. It would be their final warning.

Keeping Kazuma close he continued down the hall to the pit, "This is the common room," he said and pointed to the stack of pillows he had kept off to the side for himself and his wife "That's my spot, Ebony and I like to relax there when we've got some free time. You can sleep there, no one will bother you."

Kazuma didn't move, instead he looked up at Fritz "Where are you going to be?" he asked, the rabbit smiled and lead him to his private spot "I'm going to check on Ebony," he said "I want to look at her cheek, and make sure the creep didn't bust her lip." The boy sat down with a thump and pressed his face into his hands "I'm so sorry." he whispered "This is all my fault, I'm the one who got her hurt."

A pillow suddenly hit Kazuma's head, knocking him over. He sat up, utterly surprised and shocked, Fritz bounced another throw pillow in his hand "Now, if you're done with your guilt trip?" he said "Or do I have to use round two?" he waved the pillow about in a mock threat and chuckled at the stunned look on the boy's face. He crouched down beside the boy "Look Kazuma," he said "Ebony doesn't think before she acts whenever she sees someone in trouble, all that goes through her mind is helping the person in question. She would have done anything to protect you, as I would have, don't hold yourself responsible for what we do. We would have done anything to help you, and neither of us will ever regret it. Now, lay down and get some sleep while I go find out where my little lady is hiding."

With another ruffle of Kazuma's hair he stood and headed for his room. The boy sat there a moment, simply staring after the rabbit's retreating form as his words began to sink in. They would have done anything to protect him. But, why? He wasn't anything special, and he was just some kid off the street who had to steal to eat every day of his life.

He simply couldn't wrap his mind around it. But, either way, he liked these people and wanted to repay them, somehow. As he considered just how to do that, he layed down on the pillows and slowly drifted off into the first truly peaceful sleep of his life.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Kazma stepped into his room and closed the door behind him, he heard a splash in the bathroom and pushed the door open. Steam rolled out around him "My darling?" he said "Are you hiding somewhere in this misty jungle?" He heard her giggle somewhere in front of him, she suddenly stepped out into his view. She was wrapped in a towel, her wet hair dripping down her shoulders like a black waterfall, Kazma grinned with a chuckle as he drew her against him-not caring that he was getting wet himself. He gazed into her eyes as she blinked slowly up at him, then his eyes came to rest on her cheek. A huge bruise discolored her fair white skin, and the corner of her lip was in fact busted.

"I'm gonna kill him." he hissed.

As he turned to leave and find his unfortunate victim, Danica grabbed hold of his arm and clung to it "Love, my love calm down!" she said "Don't get upset, it'll go away. Besides, wouldn't you rather say here and kiss it all better?" Her smile was teasing and seductive, she slowly stroked her fingers down his chest and she batted those thick smoky black eyelashes at him. A sigh escaped him, she knew just how to manipulate him, and he always let her do it.

He wrapped his arms around her once more, he gently nibbled at her neck and slowly made his way up to her ear, she shuddered and clutched his shirt while she tried not to burst out laughing. His lips feathered a gentle kiss to the tender skin of her cheek, the flesh throbbed against his mouth as he gave her skin a soft lick and blew a cool breath on her dampened skin. He traced her lips with the tip of his tongue and forced them apart so he could plunder her sweetly delicious mouth, he moaned deep in his throat as she kissed him back, he plunged his hands into her soaking wet hair as she did the same thing to him.

They slowly broke apart, breathing hard. Kazma looked deep into Danica's eyes, there he saw an endless depth of love and desire, comfort and strength, and devotion and understanding. "My darling," he breathed, hardly believing that this wonderful, beautiful creature was all his "I love you so much. I just can't bear to see you hurt like this, forgive me if my anger got the better of me earlier."

Danica twirled a finger in a lock of his yellow-blond hair "I understand, it's alright." she said "Just don't go beating people up over me, my love, I don't want you to get hurt. I couldn't bear it if that happen."

She moved to the mirror and picked up her brush, as she began to comb her wet hair she look at him in the foggy mirror "Where's Kazuma?" she asked, Kazma blinked out of his daze, she had a way of hypnotizing him with a simple action "He's snoozing in own spot in the pit, I got him something to eat and calmed him down a bit." he answered "He was pretty upset about you getting hurt, I had to convince him that it really wasn't his fault and I think he got the message."

She turned to stare at him, there was a chuckle in his tone "Kazma," she asked cautiously "What did you do?"

"I hit him with a pillow," he chuckled "Just to get his attention."

Danica choked back a laugh, she rolled her eyes as she turned back to the mirror "Only you, my love, only you." she said "No one else would think of whacking a guilt-racked young boy with a pillow in order to get his point across."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Danica tied on her face veil, the red gossamer hid the blackening bruise on her cheek, but as she had just finished getting dressed she stopped "My love," she said, gesturing to her husband "Come here for a minute." With a puzzled look on his face Kazma went to her side, her fingers wrapped around the black sash he used as a belt, he couldn't help smiling as she unfastened it and pulled it off slowly.

She smiled up at him...and tied the belt loosely around around her own waist. He stuttered when she simply walk out of the room with a small leather pouch in hand.

He quickly followed "Darling, wait up!" he called after, he fell into step beside her and watched as she tied the leather pouch on his belt "So all you wanted was my belt?" She looked at him blankly "Yes, why?" she said "What did you think I wanted?" His face slightly reddened, he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, hip against hip as they made their way to the pit "I think you know what I thought you were doing, you little flirting tease! Are you sure that's ALL you want?" He traced invisible shapes on her bottom as they walked, she rested a hand on his tail-curling her fingers in the cottony soft fur "For now, yes. That's all I wanted, but maybe later..." she trailed off and suddenly pinched him, making him jump in surprise "Hey!" he yelped as he released her "A little bit on the frisky side, aren't we?" he said while rubbing his tail.

She bumped him with her hip as she walked past, giving him a suggestive smile over her shoulder.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Ebony knelt down beside the sleeping boy, his fist pressed against his mouth with one leg stretched out while the other was curled up "Aww," she cooed "Isn't he just adorable my love? But he's just so thin, the poor dear, and his clothes are simply ruined rags." Fritz watched as she lovingly stroked the boy's hair, he'd seen that look on her face before, Ebony simply cherished children. They had only been married for two years and they had been trying to start a family, but so far without success. He knew how much she wanted a child to call her own, even he himself wanted a son or daughter to hold when they got scared at night in the middle of a thunderstorm and roll in the fresh spring grass with.

So when she looked up at him with _that_ look on her face he didn't have the heart to deny her her one greatest wish "My love," she began "He doesn't have a home, that's perfectly clear, and he needs someone to look after him. I couldn't send him back out into the streets-I just can't! Do you think, maybe, we could take him in-as our own?"

He saw her silently holding her breath as she awaited his answer. He looked down at the dozing boy, he knew he had a good heart and proper manners, and he clearly had good morals. But if he said yes, he'd be putting him in danger. If things went wrong he could get hurt, but so could he also out on the street and there it was definite. But if he was with Kazma and his wife he wouldn't be a street urchin, he'd have a family and Kazma could provide for, and protect him.

His eyes softened as he thought about finally having a child in his life, most rabbits grew up surrounded by their siblings, but he had been different. He'd been an only child, growing up without anyone to look up to or to be an example for, and his parents had always been busy. He'd be different, he would make time for his kids, and Danica would be an exceptional mother. The kind who would fuss over a scraped knee with kisses and hugs, who would give them sweets just because she could, and who would read and tell them stories before bed each and every night.

Fritz sat cross-legged beside Ebony, he rested his hands on his knees as he weighed the pro's and con's of the situation at hand in his mind, all the while he gazed down at Kazuma. Was he really ready for this, to suddenly have a son thrust into his life-even if it was by his own choice?

Without another thought he reached over and gently shook the boy's shoulder.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Kazuma blinked drowsily as something shook him awake, he sat up with a yawn as his blurred vision began to clear, he rubbed his eyes and noticed his company "M...Miss Ebony? Mister Fritz?" he asked, confused as to why they were sitting so close to him or why Ebony had a funny little smile that tried to break out into a full fledged grin, "Wha-what's going on?"

Ebony reached over to take one of Kazuma's hands "Kazuma, honey, Fritz and I have something very important to ask you." she said "It's going to be pretty personal, and life changing, so we don't expect you to answer right away." Her warning set his trained nerves on high alert, making him ready to run at any moment-the first sign of danger and he was out of there. Fritz saw the boy tense up, he held up a hand in a soothing gesture "Relax, your not in any trouble." he said "But this is important."

Fritz took Ebony's free hand, he looked into her eyes once more, his gaze asking _Are you sure about this?_, and her smile answered back _Yes, absolutely, ask him._ He nodded, and turned back to Kazuma, who'd watched the silent exchange between them.

"Kazuma, my wife and I have been married for two years, and we have no children of our own, but we wish to. We understand that you don't have a home, or a family, and the dangers you face every day on the streets and so we've decided to ask you. " he paused a moment, took a deep breath and plunge in to the cold waters of uncertainty "Kazuma, we would by honored, if you would consider becoming our son."


	7. Fallen tears

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank You

Please enjoy, R&R

Fallen tears

Kazuma sat on the bed in Fritz and Ebony's room. He felt miserable, mentally beating himself up inside at what he had done.

He'd made Ebony cry.

She'd tried not to let him see the tears gathering in her chocolate brown eyes, but he had glimpsed them sparkling there as she'd left to do her job of waiting tables. He'd looked to Fritz, an apology on his lips, but the rabbit simply smiled while shaking his head and said it was alright, then he'd taken him to their room to finish his nap.

Now Kazuma thought back on his words, trying to see what he'd said to upset her...

_Kazuma stared down at the floor, the shock slowly fading. They'd asked him to be their son. Two honest and kind people wanted him as part of their family._

_"I-I...I can't."_

_Ebony's breath caught inside her throat "You...can't?" she asked softly, her chest suddenly ached, those two little words had cut deep. He tucked his head down at the sound of the hurt in her voice "I-I'm sorry. Its not you, but me." he said "I can't be your son, I barely know you, or you me. Not that you haven't been amazing to me and all, but I can't."_

_She smiled sadly at him and gently squeezed his hand "That's alright, we understand." she said, the tears burned her throat as she stood "I better get to waiting tables, don't want Naomi to do it on top of all the cooking she does."_

_That's when he saw them, shining brightly in her eyes as she turned away and disappeared into the kitchen, he turned to Fritz "I didn't-!" he began, only to have the rabbit stop him with a raised hand "Its alright Kazuma, we understand." he stood and offered the boy a hand up "Come on, you can sleep in our room for now."_

Now, he absolutely hated himself. How couldn't he have just said 'yes'? He'd have had a home, a family-everything he had ever wanted, and he had said no.

"Why?" he murmured to himself "Why am I my own worst enemy? I'm SO STUPID!"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Fritz found his wife sitting in the back of the kitchen, peeling a sack of potatoes as tears rolled down her cheeks. He knelt down beside her "Those are going to be pretty salty, my darling." he quietly teased, she looked at him with complete despair "My love, what if this is a sign?" she cried "What if we never have a family? Is it wrong of me, to want a child that I can love?" she threw herself into his awaiting arms as she sobbed against the fur of his neck "We've tried so hard for two years to have a child and start a family of our own, and failed. Now an adorable homeless orphan practically drops in our lap and yet he doesn't want us. It's like the whole world is conspiring against us!"

He held her gently in his arms, humming softly as he rubbed her back soothingly. He quietly began singing in her ear, it was a song his mother used to sing to him whenever he would become upset as a child.

_Home is behind the world ahead_

_And there are many paths to tread_

_Through shadow, to the edge of night_

_Until the stars are all alined_

_Mist and shadow, cloud and shade_

_All shall fade, all shall..._

_Fade_

_When the world causes the fall of tears_

_And brings forth your secret fears_

_I shall be the one to catch you if you fall_

_To hold you and help you stand tall_

_Here beside you I shall forever stand_

_Walking together, hand in hand_

_With my lips I shall kiss your beautiful eyes dry_

_My love shall always be your's till the day I die_

_Hold tight to the happiness_

_The sadness all shall fade, all shall..._

_Fade_

The shudders of each silent sob slowly subsided as he held her in his lap, he smiled and kissed each eye softly, then rubbed his nose to her's. She dried her eyes as she gave him a trembling smile "You can be a real romantic when you want to be, my love." she said "I'm sorry for getting all worked up, I'll be alright now. Just, do me a favor?" He stroked a hand down her silky black hair as he pressed his lips to her forehead "Anything, my darling, name it."

She dragged her fingers through his fur and scratched under his chin "Don't tell Kazuma that I cried." she said "I don't want him to feel bad about me being so stupid." Fritz raised a brow "You're a little late for that request, he saw the look on your face before you left." he shook his head "Seemed like he was about to reconsider simply to make you happy again."

This made her pause, could it be possible that he might actually reconsider their offer?

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

The knife slipped through a soft spot in the potato and cut Ebony's finger "Ouch!" she winced, pressing the bleeding cut to her lips she set the rest of the potato aside and headed out of the kitchen "Naomi, I'll be right back. Just need to get a bandage" she called back as she left. She quickly walked down the hall to her room and slowly eased the door open, not wanting to wake Kazuma, and tiptoed into the bathroom.

She flicked on the light and began rummaging through the medicine cabinet.

Kazuma blinked awake suddenly, his eyes screwed shut against the bright light coming out of the bathroom, he could hear the shuffling of boxes and bottles as he slowly sat up. The sound of glass shattering made him jump "Oh darn it!" someone huffed, he quickly got up and ran to the bathroom door and gently pushed it open. Ebony was kneeling on the floor picking up shards of glass with a bloody finger "Oh Kazuma," she spotted him staring at her hand as he stood in the doorway "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep, I won't be long."

He couldn't tear his eyes away from her hand "You're...bleeding." he stated, she stopped and stared at him "Kazuma? Honey, what's wrong?" she held up her hand for him to see clearly "See? Look, it's just a little cut. Nothing big, I'll live." He slowly knelt down beside her, with a trembling hand he reached out to take her's and carefully wiped the scarlet liquid away with his fingertips "What...did you...do?" he asked slowly, almost detached, Ebony set the glass she'd collected aside as she watched him carefully "Kazuma, honey, are you okay?" she asked.

Kazuma stood suddenly and grabbed the box of bandages out of the cabinet, he plucked out a bandage and placed her hand on his knee, ever so gently he wrapped her finger "Is that too tight?" he asked, she shook her head-still wondering what was going on. The look on her face voiced an unasked question, Kazuma sighed quietly "When I was six, my mom was shoved through a glass door. She bled to death on the street, ever since then I can't stand to see people bleeding, it brings back that same feeling."

Ebony wrapped her hand around his "Honey, I'm sorry about earlier." he looked up in confusion, she smiled with a touch of sadness on her lips "I didn't mean to upset you by getting upset myself. It's just that, I've wanted a child for so long I got my hopes sky high without thinking about you. I guess that means I'm not ready to be someone's mother." Kazuma eyes widened "That's not true!" he blurted out "You'd make a wonderful mother, I know you would."

Ebony could only stare at him in awe "Kazuma..." she breathed, she'd had no idea he was so passionate about things.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Fritz's ears twitched slightly, the loud noises of the market place wreaked havoc on his keen sense of hearing as he trailed slightly behind Death Slinger to keep an eye on him. He hadn't told Fritz where exactly they were going, or what they were doing. This made him nervous, he didn't know what to expect.

Death Slinger suddenly made a sharp turn with a signal for Fritz to follow, he glanced over his shoulder then headed down the alley, Death Slinger stood waiting at a door at the back wall "Alright Cotton-tail, today you'll earn your keep." he said and stepped inside with Fritz close behind "I'm going to introduce you to my one-way ticket to the King's throne."

The rabbit tensed, he was going to show he alright, he was going to show him the weapon that was to be used against him. He couldn't afford to pass up this opportunity, he bowed his head slightly "Yes sir," he replied "I would be honored." Death Slinger lead them down a flight of stairs to another door, he stopped and rested his back against the wood surface "Now, before we go any further, you'll need to now a couple of things. So put those long ears of your's to good use and pay attention, otherwise you'll end up dead and I'll have replace my bodyguard all over again. And that's a pain in the neck I don't need." he said nonchalantly "Behind this door, is a creature of my own creation, designed to be a killing machine-in fact he IS a machine, but I've combined metal with flesh to make him intelligent and nearly indestructible."

Fritz felt his breath catch in his throat "An A.I.," he murmured "Artificial Intelligence! Incredible." The human smirked, the smug look on his face made it hard for Fritz to resist the urge to slap him "Yes, I AM rather amazing, aren't I?" he straightened and placed a hand on the knob "But enough about how great I am. Just remember this: Don't look him in the eye, don't speak to him, and don't get within ten feet of him. Break one of these rules, and he'll break you."

He turned and opened the door, the room beyond was dark and cold, Fritz could see his breath turning to steam in the faint light from the hallway as they quietly stepped inside. The sound of clinking chains came ahead from the darkness, Fritz's hands curled into fists at his sides "My lord," he said softly "Are you sure this thing is safe for you to be around?" Death Slinger chuckled "You've got more to worry about than I do, he'll only attack animals unless a human strikes him."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, something lunged out of the shadows, a human-like hand reached out and was stopped by a shackle on the wrist just an inch away from Fritz's unflinching face.

Death Slinger grinned "Fritz, meet Love Machine."


	8. The new family and the forgotten past

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

Please enjoy

R&R

The new family and the forgotten past

Danica had fallen asleep waiting for Kazma to return, she lay stretched out across the bed wearing one of his shirts. Kazma stood silently by the bed, watching his wife as she slept, she seemed so peaceful and yet her hand lay stretched out towards the place he would normally be, as if even in sleep she was seeking him. He gently took her in his arms and set her on her side before stretching out beside her, he draped an arm over her waist and dragged her against him. She sighed contently and snuggled firmly against him, Kazma's body felt heavy as lead and tired like the night was long, he didn't even bother to pull up the blankets.

Something touched the sole of Kazma's foot, he jumped slightly and slowly sat up, standing at the foot of the bed was Kazuma. Kazma slowly swung his legs over the edge of the bed, he silently gestured to the boy and waited for him to reach his side "What is it Kazuma?" he asked with a yawn "What's on your mind?"

Kazuma shifted his weigh from foot to foot "I think I need to talk to you." he said cautiously "You see, I did some thinking-a lot actually and I think I was just scared, and a little overwhelmed. What you said earlier, I decided to change my answer. I don't want to live in the streets any more, I...I would like to be your son-if you'll still have me?"

The rabbit smiled with his heart full of joy, he ruffled the boy's chocolate brown hair affectionately "Of course I still want you as my son, but remember." he warned "Having me as a father means having Ebony as a mother, you have to be willing except both of us as your parents. Are you willing to do that?" He smiled back at Kazma "I know, she sort of convinced me really. She didn't actually bring it up again or anything, but she cut herself earlier and I woke up while she was getting a bandage. We kind of had a talk, if you could call it that, she told me why she really got upset before and when she apologized, she said that maybe she wasn't fit to be a mother."

He frowned, deep in thought, "I'm not sure why, but when I heard her say that, I just couldn't stop myself from setting it straight." The rabbit frowned, his ears folding back slightly "Set what straight?" he asked, not quite sure what the boy was talking about. "I mean, that when she said she wouldn't be a good mother, I had to set it straight. She'd be an awesome mom, and the more I thought about all the things she'd to for her kids, the more I realized that I wanted to be part of all that. I know you don't have much to offer, but I don't care about that, I just want to have a real family." he confessed "I never knew my father, he left my mom long before I was born, and her I barely remember at all. But what I DO remember was that she left me for days and that she used to hit me some times. So I don't know anything about being part of a family, but I'm willing to learn if you'll teach me."

Kazma slowly held his arms open "Then welcome to your new family, son." he chuckled softly as the boy threw himself into his embrace. Kazma couldn't believe it, he was actually holding his son, not caring that this boy wasn't of his blood. He was of his heart, of his soul, and that was all that mattered. He slowly released Kazuma and held him at arm's length to study him a moment "Alright then, we'll tell your mother in the morning-we can surprise her together. But for now, get some sleep."

Kazuma wrapped his arms around his father's neck "Good-night Dad, I love you."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Something warm lay pressed against Danica's side...and there were two sets of arms around her. She slowly peeked her eyes open, Kazma lay on his side next to her, sleeping peacefully with his arm tossed across her waist. _Well,_ she thought _That's perfectly normal. But who's...?_ She shifted her gaze down and she was stunned with disbelief. Kazuma lay next to her, wedged firmly between her and her husband with one arm wrapped loosely around each of their necks.

Ever so carefully she reached over the boy and gently flicked Kazma's ear, immediately his eyes fluttered open, he looked questioningly at her and when his eyes flickered to the boy his mouth made a silent 'o' and nodded in understanding. _Meet me in there._ he mouthed and pointed to the bathroom, very slowly they both detangled themselves from the youth's grip and closed the bathroom door behind them quietly.

The second the lock clicked Danica was on Kazma like white on rice "What was Kazuma doing, sleeping with us like that? Do you know something I don't? If so I'd like to be in on it, because I seriously doubt a twelve-year-old boy would crawl into bed with _one_ adult-let alone _two_-after having a nightmare if THAT'S the line you try to sell me."

The rabbit held up his hands in a soothing gesture "Darling, darling, calm down." he said softly, a smile curling his lips ever so slightly "Do you know who that was laying between us?" She looked up at him confused "My love, what in Oz are you talking about?" she asked "Your starting to scare me." Kazma wrapped his arms around her waist and jerked her firmly against him, his grin devilish "Darling," he said, his voice husky "That boy sleeping between us, was our _son._"

The air suddenly fled from her lungs, her legs bucked, and she would have ended up on the floor if Kazma hadn't been holding her so tightly. He picked her up and set her on the counter, she pressed a hand to her forehead as the light-headedness began to settle in "Oh, my love, I think I'm going to faint." she said, slightly out of breath. Kazma pressed his forehead to her's "It's alright my darling, just calm down and breathe." he said, when her breathing was still a bit too harsh he pushed her against the wall with a forceful kiss, she gasped and only moments later her legs snaked around his waist, practically drawing in his breath like it was her own. He pulled away and smirked, her cheeks were flushed-even the bruise seemed to turn seashell pink-her eyes half-lidded and she drew in deep rythmic breaths. It continually amazed him just how easily he could set a fire under her, sending her up in flames for the touch of his hand and the taste of his mouth.

She blinked almost dreamily at him "I'm okay, I think?" she said "But, my love, are you sure you heard him right? Please tell me you did-I couldn't bare it if this wasn't real!" He rested her head on his shoulder "Yes my darling, Kazuma is our son." he replied "He told me late last night. Right when I layed down he tickled my foot to get my attention!" She giggled into his neck, all the while stroking the back of his thigh with her heel, making him very aware of the heat coming off her body in waves. He grabbed her chin gently "You had best be _very_ careful teasing me like that Missy, otherwise you won't be getting off this counter top until you're bottom is too sore to sit on for a week! And you know _exactly_ what I mean, so don't play innocent my darling."

She laughed softly as she leaned back against the wall with her arms behind her head "Really? Are you threatening me?" she teased, he leaned over her grinning "I don't make idol threats, my darling, I make promises." She raised an eyebrow "Is that so?" she asked "Well, _I'm_ not scared of you, I know just how to work you my love." He frowned, then he opened his mouth to ask what she meant when she suddenly scratched him under the chin, with a groan he leaned heavily on the counter "Oh Oz, that feels nice." he said softly "A little lower-right there! That's the spot."

Danica laughed "See what I mean? I know all your little sensative places!" she said, pressing her heel against his hip to gently push him away "Let me up my furry love, I want to go see _my son_!"

She snatched the door open and ran to the bed, she leaped onto it beside the sleeping Kazuma-who was awake the instant she landed next to him, she suddenly began tickling him and they both burst into laughter.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Fritz stood on the street corner with his wife and son, Ebony held a straw basket in one hand and Kazuma's hand in the other "Are you two going to be alright walking around by yourselves?" asked Fritz "I would go with you, but I've guard duty for the meeting today, so I'll be stuck with Death Slinger all day." Ebony waved it aside "Don't worry my love, we'll be fine. We'll just go get somethings and come straight back, okay?"

Reluctantly Firtz nodded "As long as you two be careful." he kissed Ebony and ruffled Kazuma's hair, he watched them a moment as they headed down the street before turning back to the hideout.

Ebony smiled at Kazuma, when he smiled she squeezed his hand affectionately "Does he always worry about you so much?" he asked suddenly, "Who, Fritz?" Ebony chuckled to herself "Oh yes, he's always concerned for my well being. He rarely lets me out of his sight most days." This seemed to confuse the boy "But why? Doesn't he trust you?" he asked "I doubt you've ever done anything to make you untrustworthy."

"Its not that," she replied "Its other people he doesn't trust. I'm not very strong, and a bit too trusting. Fritz has always been like my protector, ever since the day we met he's been looking out for me, he's even saved my life a few times." Kazuma's eyes glowed with a deep sense of admiration "Really?" he asked in awe "From who, or what?" A sad smile came across her face as she steered them through the growing crowd "From quite a few things actually," she said softly "He's saved me from myself mostly."

Kazuma didn't understand what she had ment "Yourself? What does that mean?" he wondered. She stopped suddenly and looked at Kazuma with eyes filled with faded saddness and old grief "Honey, I was not always such a happy person. In fact, right before I met your father, I wanted to stop living altogether."

_It had been a grey-skyed kind of day, the rain poured down in heavy sheets, it was the kind of weather that sent people running for cover and kept them there until it passed. But one woman, however, had actually been waiting for the rain to start falling before stepping out for the first time in a week._

_She stood like a statue on the edge of a high cliff overlooking the river, her clothes soaked through, and her long black hair was plastered against her skin. She stared down at the swollen river below, only one thought crossed her mind 'At least the river can take me away, it could wash away all this pain I feel inside, all I have to do is take just one more step.'_

_Slowly, she raised her foot to end it all with one final motion-"Miss?" a voice behind her made her freeze "Are you alright? Maybe you should come away from the ledge, it's pretty slick from all this rain." She turned, ready to yell at this intruder for interrupting her last seconds, only to be stunned into silence. 'Dear God,' she thought 'He's an angel!'_

_Kazma gasped inwardly when she faced him 'She's...Beautiful.' he thought 'Yet she looks so miserible, someone like her shouldn't know a single day of sorrow.' He pushed the feather-pattened red hood off his head to see her better, she was staring at him with a look of awe in her chocolate eyes, he stepped closer and held out a hand. He didn't know what had compelled him to offer his hand, but it simply felt right to him somehow._

_She stared at the hand like she expected it to bite her, but when she met his eyes something twisted inside her chest, urging her to reach out and lay her hand on his outstretched palm. His fingers slowly curled around her hand, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted, he gently lead her a few feet away from the cliff and released her hand. He could see shivers crawling along her skin, their breath made little clouds of steam, reaching up he unclasped the tiny gold rope of his cape and draped it over her shaking form._

_As he pulled up the hood and clapsed the rope to it's proper place, she looked up into his eyes directly "Who are you?" she whispered, her voice barely audible against the splattering rain. He looked deep into the depths of her eyes and felt something tugging at his very heart "I'm Kazma, Kazma Carthian Ikezawa." he said, very slowly he wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm against the chill "Who are you? I'd like to know your name."_

_The darkness inside suddenly seemed to brighten, like the clouds parting for the sun. "My name is Danica."_

Kazuma stared in disbelief at his mother, she had tried to take her own life. Aside from their real names-which she had replaced with their alias ones-everything she had said was true. Kazuma gripped her hand a little tighter "I can't believe it, you were really going to jump if he hadn't shown up when he did?" she nodded and patted his head "Yes Kazuma, Fritz really is an angel to me."

She picked out a few shirts and pants for Kazuma from a stand and paid for them then put them in her basket "Why were you going to do it?" he asked "What happened?" She took his hand once more as they continued down the street "My mother and father had died not long after my baby brother had been born, they'd gotten sick and never got better, and then after all those years of keeping myself together for my brother, an accident took him from me. I don't really remember what happened afterwards, just a lot of crying and loneliness."

They paused at a crosswalk and watched the traffic roll by, "But, even after you met him, what kept you from going back?" he asked, she sighed as she thought about her answer for a moment "What I was going to do was wrong, selfish, and cowardly. If I had jumped that day I would have taken part of my soulmate with me, then Fritz would have been alone in the world and I would have never known happiness, or you either."

He smiled "I glad you didn't jump, I'm glad your my new family, and I don't ever want you to feel alone again. I know what thats like, what it does to your head." Ebony smiled back and hugged him against her side as they crossed the street "Thank you honey, that means a lot to me to hear you say that."

As their shopping day continued, mother and son bonded, becoming ever closer and their love grew stronger with their understanding for one another.


	9. Love Machine unleashed

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank You

R&R

Enjoy!

**Hey there my faithful readers, Gale here! I just thought you'd like to know, I've been getting a lot of questions about the past between Danica and Kazma, so I've decided to do a separate story about their meeting and relationship. But only if I get a few more requests first! So if you want to know the whole truth, put it in your review or send me a PM. Now, on with the story!**

Love Machine unleashed

Fritz stood beside the overstuffed armchair of Death Slinger, feeling more and more disgusted with each meeting they had, there had been twelve in the last hour and they were all the same. He was demanding payment for their 'safety' from him and his goons-and quite possibly his new little killing toy hidden away in his basement. He would ask for an outrageous sum of money, they would beg to have it lowered, and he would deny them only to then set a date most could not hope to make.

Several had even made threatening gestures towards the leader in a desperate attempt to save themselves, but it would only take Fritz moving in front of them to halt their attack. He was normally a half-head taller than most human men and his bare arms made his fitness obvious to all he could be a threat if provoked, if those facts alone weren't enough to deter them, his natural commanding aura and unwavering gaze along with his steady, calm voice were.

But like every day, life has it's ways of throwing the unexpected curve-ball.

So far, all of the men who'd shown up were all representing a type of bussiness-legal and otherwise-but when the next representative entered the room Fritz couldn't believe his eyes, it was a woman and if that wasn't stunning enough, the fact she was half-rabbit was.

Like all of the very few half-human half-animals, she appeared mostly human with no fur on her skin and small physical traits of her animal self. In her case, her ears and nose were of that of a rabbit, both black like her hair. She was slightly shorter than Ebony with the same length of hair, her eyes were blue and held an unhappy fire-clearly showing her desire to be elsewhere. As she stopped before the chair her gaze shifted to Fritz, an eyebrow raised "Who's the new guy, Wabisuke?" she asked with a tone of interest.

_Wabisuke?_

Death Slinger, or Wabisuke, glared at her "Don't use my name Natsuki." he grumbled unhappily "And Cotton-tail here is my new right hand, Fritz say hello to the leader of the Dancing Doves, Natsuki."

He nodded a greeting and watched her pink lips curl into a smile "Don't go anywhere cutie," she murmured "I'll deal with you once I'm done with him." He cringed inward, he hated when women came on to him, even if they were kidding. Normally they flirted with him because he was royalty, other times-if they didn't recognize him-because he was handsome. It got on his nerves for two reasons. The first, he knew most of them were gold-diggers. The second, he already had the perfect woman on his arm.

She smiled at his reaction, but turned back to Wabisuke "So, what do you want? You called me here from my stage time so it best be important." he smirked as he stood "You, my little freak of nature, owe me insurance money." he said "You've got till the end of the week to pay up, or pay the price." Her eyes widened "What? How am I suppose to get all that cash in one week? You're insane!" she yelled, Wabisuke just chuckled "That's not MY problem, its YOUR'S." he said "Now go, I've got important things to do without you bugging me."

Pure rage radiated off the half-rabbit, she reached into sleeve and whipped out a dagger, with a scream she lunged at the rebel leader with deadly intent. Fritz reacted with lightning quick reflexes, he leaped between them and seized her wrist, the blade slashing his torso. He wrenched the hilt out of her hand and slammed her in the stomach with an open hand, sending her flying back several feet. She landed with a thump, the air knocked out of her lungs, she coughed harshly and glared at Wabisuke.

He smirked at her "Fritz."

"Yes sir?"

"Take out the trash. Then meet me at the basement, we've got work to do."

"Yes sir, I'll only be a minute." he answered as he hauled Natsuki to her feet, she moved to snatched her arm out of his grasp but he tightened his grip and jerked her towards the exit "Don't fight me Natsuki." he hissed under his breath. She frowned at him but didn't resist, when they stepped outside he pushed her forward "Don't be so stupid, if I hadn't stopped you you would have been killed for simply drawing a weapon on him!" he said "Do you _want_ to die? Is that it!" She rounded on him, her anger matching his own "What do you care? Your just one of his little hired guns-_YOU'RE_ a murderer for heaven's sake!" she yelled.

Fritz grabbed the collar of her shirt, she gasped when her feet suddenly touched only air as he carried her around the corner of the alley, he glanced back to make sure no one was near and released her. "Now listen, and you listen good. I'm a _bodyguard_ not a murderer, I'm only here to protect someone and it isn't Wabisuke." his voice suddenly softened, he could easily see a part of his wife from long ago in this woman, the same fire and almost no regard for her own life. _But Danica has changed for the better, changed for me._ he thought _And she would have never tried to kill someone. This _girl _isn't anything like the woman I married, but she is like that woman I stopped from jumping off the cliff years ago. Ready to die for something unreasonable, and ready to snap at the one just trying to help._

Natsuki folded her arms, a strangely familiar smile on her lips "And, who exactly are you risking your neck for?" she practically purred the question and twirled a finger on his chest, then it hit him, Danica flirted with him like this. With a glare he sharply stepped back "My wife," he said firmly "And my son." She raised a curved eyebrow "Really?" she asked as she followed him, she pressed scandalously against him "And, who _is_ your wife? What does she look like?" He pushed her away with a fingertip to her breastbone "Her name is Ebony." he said curtly "She's a dancer at the court, with black hair and brown eyes. And just in case you were wondering my son is adopted, his name's Kazuma and he has dark brown hair and dark tan skin, with brown eyes like Ebony's."

Her eyes widened, then she suddenly glared daggers at him "Is she human?" she hissed, his silence was all the answer she needed "Are you telling me you _married a human!_" He returned the glare "Who holds my heart is none of your business." he bit out, she let out a cruel , short laugh "Ha! Oh, so your all romantic with her too?" she sneered "What the heck is wrong with you, neither of them are our species, and yet you act like you care for them? _Love _them?"

Fritz's ears flicked back "I don't _act_ like I love them, I do love them-more than I care about my own life." he said "I don't have to explain myself to you, but I don't want you to be dumb enough to get yourself killed. There is someone out there looking for the love of his life, someone who will cherish you to the end of his days, and if you die he'll be left to face the world alone." He turned on his heels and headed back to the hideout door, he stopped "One more thing." he said over his shoulder "Don't throw your life away for something meaningless like that, someone I know almost did that and I don't know what I would have done without them."

Natsuki stared at him with wide eyes "You really do love her?" she asked incredulously, he blinked slowly and turned back to the door "Yes," he said "I do." and with that he went to join Wabisuke at Love Machine's basement.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

The sight of the open door made Fritz pause in his tracks, he ran into the dark room "Your greatness?" he called into the shadows, a ruffling noise made him turn sharply, Wabisuke sat at a small table in the corner shuffling cards "Took you long enough Cotton-tail," he said "I started the party without you-hope you don't mind. Like I'd care if you did." He gestured for the rabbit to take a seat at the table, Fritz joined him and waited silently for th man to say something while his heart trembled inside his chest. He'd walked into the room and hadn't heard chains rattling, where was Love Machine?

"Want to play Royal swords?" asked Wabisuke, Fritz nodded and picked up his cards as they were dealt "I see you've noticed he's missing." Again he nodded "Yes sir, I did." he replied "Where is he, was he moved?"

"No, he's just enjoying his new found freedom." he said, his tone so casual you wouldn't have thought he was talking about letting a killing machine loose in a city packed with people "I can see you're surprised, don't worry, he's in the market raising a little cane. You've got nothing to be bothered about."

Fritz leaped to his feet "My wife's there with a young boy, they'll be caught up in the panic when he decides to attack!" he gasped "I need to go get them, now." Wabisuke waved a hand "Go ahead, just remember what I said about having to replace my hired hand and don't attack Love Machine. I'd like him in one piece when he kills the king for me."

Without another word Fritz was out the door, up the stairs, and on the street.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Ebony turned to look in the mirror "What do you think Kazuma," she asked as she gazed at the lavender dress she held up against her body "You think Fritz will like this one?" Kazuma tilted his head to one side "I guess," he replied "Though I don't think it'll be the dress he'll be looking at. But the dress itself is real nice, I like it on you. You look like a spring flower."

She laughed while handing the shopkeeper the money for the dress and placed it in the basket with Kazuma's new clothes, they left the store hand in hand as they continued down the street. A sweet aroma drifted in heavy waves toward them, Kazuma licked his lips while Ebony sighed pleasantly "Hungry?" she asked, he nodded and she smiled "Well then, lets go get some of whatever that smell is."

As she started leading Kazuma along the sidewalk a chill ran up her spine, freezing her in place. Kazuma felt her hold tighten on his hand "M-mom?" he asked nervously "What is it?" Then he too felt the wave of danger flooding all around him, ever so slowly he turned.

It stood perfectly still, like the image of the Grim Reaper before he strikes, it's forehead donned a heart-shaped section of glass, and it was standing right beside them.

Ebony's instincts screamed only one action, get it away from her son. She shoved him aside "Run Kazuma!" she yelled, the second she moved the thing reacted, it's arm swung out and slammed into her midsection. She collided with a low stone wall, pain unlike anything she had ever felt shot through her entire body, and as her eyes slid shut, she collapsed.


	10. The truth comes out

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

R&R

Enjoy!

The truth comes out

Kazuma couldn't breath. It was as if the air in his lungs had turned to ice, freezing him in place as he watched his mother crumple to the ground like a dropped rag doll. The scream building in his throat finally found it's way free "MOM!" he cried, leaping to his feet he ran to her side, completely oblivious to the chaos raging all around him and knelt down. He shook her shoulders "Mom," he said, shaking slightly harder "Mom get up!" He felt the panic rising inside, but fought it down to think. What could he do, how could he help her?

A cart flew through the air and crashed against the wall above them, Kazuma threw himself over his unconscious mother and grunted in pain as a splintered piece of wood slammed into his back, blood quickly soaking his shirt. He took a deep, shaky breath as his entire body pulsed with agony, but despite the hurt he smiled to himself, he'd made a silent promise to himself the night Fritz had accepted him as his son.

_No matter what, I'll do anything to protect my family and that includes putting myself on the line. Anything, to keep them safe._

People screamed, running for their lives at the thing attacked anything that moved, within moments the streets turned red with blood and littered with bodies. The world tilted at crazy angles before Kazuma's eyes as he slowly rose to his trembling legs, the ground seemed to swing out from under his feet and brought him to his knees.

"Kazuma!"

At the sound of his name he looked up, he spotted his father's white fur even as he fought his way through the crazed crowd to reach them. He slid to his knees beside him "D-dad," he grunted, wincing in pain "I-it came out of nowhere. I didn't even see it, until it was stand right there." The rabbit gently place a hand on his shoulder, he felt the blood seeping through his shirt "Its alright Kazuma," he said "But right now we need to get you and your mother out of here."

He carefully picked the boy up and draped him over his back with his arms wrapped around his neck "Just hold on to me, everything's going to be fine." he reasured him, he slowly took Ebony into his arms and held her bridal-style.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Fritz carefully cut the back of Kazuma's shirt open with scissors, splinters of wood were embedded in the boy's skin. He silently bit his lip, he'd have to pull them out or Kazuma risked infection. Picking up a pair of tweezers he gently held his shoulder "Be as still as you can," he said "I won't lie to you, this is going to hurt but we can't leave these in there. I'll try to be careful." Without waiting for a reply Fritz plucked out the largest splinter free, Kazuma shuddered in pain under his hand but didn't utter a sound and tightened his grip on the rim of the tub.

As he continued the rabbit silently cursed himself every time Kazuma flinched, the pile of wood slowly grew on the bathroom counter until Fritz freed the last sliver from the boy's skin and guided him to sit in the tub. He turned the water on low and cupped his hands under the flow, he let the water slowly slip through his fingers to glide down Kazuma's back, again he made not a single noise but winced visibly while gritting his teeth. Fritz couldn't be more proud of him, he knew this was unbearable for the poor boy, yet he took everything with a brave face and didn't complain even once.

The blood turned the water pale pink as it trickled off Kazuma's skin, angry red flesh glared out from underneath the crusted blood as it flaked away, once the wounds were wash Fritz softly dabbed them dry with a soft towel and pulled two bottles and a packet cotton balls out from under the sink. The tart smell hit Kazuma's nose the instant his father unscrewed the cap, peroxide. Fritz soaked a cotton ball and softly patted the cuts, then he turned to the other bottle as he screwed the lid back onto the peroxide.

The top popped off, once again Fritz soaked a cotton ball in the liquid, Kazuma sniffed the air as he tried to place the smell for he recognized it but couldn't remember what it was. The wet cotton touched his back, he sucked in as it burned his flesh and his memory clicked, alcohol. His knuckles turned white from gripping the tub so tightly against the pain, he groaned through gritted teeth as Fritz swabbed all the way down his back and thanked God the moment he took the stinging alcohol-drenched cotton away from his skin.

Fritz placed his hand over Kazuma's "You did good Kazuma, I'm proud of you." he said, he reached under the sink once more and pulled out a roll of linen and healing ointment "Now, lets get you patched up." Kazuma sighed softly as the ointment soothed the burning and cooled his hot skin, Fritz wrapped the boy's torso snugly and clipped the bandages in place with a pin. He gently patted his son's shoulder "There, I'm all done torturing you." he teased half-heartedly, he himself was in pain-but only within his heart "Now I'll go check on your mother." Kazuma wadded up his ruined shirt "Is she bad? Do you think she'll be okay?" he asked, he couldn't help feel somewhat responsible, if Ebony hadn't been so focused on protecting him she might not have gotten hurt at all.

Fritz swept the bloody splinters off the counter into the trash can then cleaned up the blood with a rag "I don't think she was hurt as bad as I'd though, none of her bones were broken and she's not bleeding at all." he said in a thoughtful tone "I believe the impact itself simply knocked her out with sheer force alone, but that fact aside she should be fine."

Together they went into the bedroom, Ebony had rolled onto her side from where Fritz had left her on the bed, Kazuma crawled up onto the bed beside his mother as his father sat on the other side. The boy rested a hand gently on her arm with a tiny smile on his face, the bond that was so new between the three of them had grown with the strength of steel and appeared just as unbreakable.

Or at least, Fritz hoped so.

He had to tell him, before things went any further, Kazuma deserved to hear the truth. He sigh softly at the thought, he didn't want to lose his son, not now-not after the boy had claimed a place deep in his heart that would collapse without him there. Kazuma looked up at his father's sigh, his brows scrunched together as he frowed while deep in thought "Dad?" he asked, Fritz looked up "What are you thinking so hard about?"

"Kazuma, we need to talk."

He patted the bed at his side, inviting the boy to join him. Kazuma hurried to sit next to him, confusion and worry etched across his face. The rabbit sighed again, the full weight of everything bearing down on his shoulders, then, with great reluctance, he began "Its time you knew the truth, all of it." he said "Up till now everything your mother and I have said is true, but somethings aren't." Kazuma frowned, if something weren't true and others were, where did he fall in?

Truth, or lie?

"For starters, we gave you-and everyone else-fake names to protect ourselves." he continued "I'm not here for bodyguard work, and she's not here to make dancing money."

He looked his son straight in the eye "My name, my real name, is Kazma Carthian Ikezawa, king of Oz. Her true name is Danica Seren Ikezawa, queen of Oz, and my wife for two years-three in four months."

Kazuma's mouth fell open, his father was the _KING?_ There was just no way! "Y-your kidding, you can't-"

"Can't I?" he broke in, with his fingers Kazma brushed his hair up into it's normal place and revealed the hidden portion of his face. Kazuma gasped "You really _are_ King Kazma!" he said in awe "But why are you here, why are you hiding?" Kazma swept his hair back into his face "I'm here to stop Wabisuke-Death Slinger-from killing any more people and taking my throne, but I clearly couldn't walk down here wearing my cape and crown. I'd be dead before I had ever reached him, this way though, I can get right up close and personal."

The boy sat there for a moment, completely silent, at the rabbit's side. As everything started sinking in he glanced back at Ebony-no, not Ebony, Danica-and then back at Kazma "Is there anything I can do?" Kazma frowned "Do?" he asked "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what can I do to help you?" replied Kazuma "How can I help you get Wabisuke? I want to do something useful." The rabbit stared at the boy, utterly stunned at his reaction to everything he'd just been told "Before I say anything more, I must ask, even after everything that's happened, do you still want to be my son?" he said "I never lied when I said we'd been honored to have you as our child Kazuma, but we'll understand if you change your mind."

Kazuma simply smiled almost shyly "I don't really care _who_ you are to everyone else, you're still Dad to me." Kazma chuckled softly and ruffled the boy's hair "But that's still pretty cool though, being the king and all. So, what does that make me?" Kazma smiled and wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders "That, my son, would make you prince." he replied "Kazuma, prince of Oz. It has a rather nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Danica awoke with the worst ache of her life, her entire body hurt, each muscle and every bone burned and throbbed. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around, but was confused when she realized she wasn't in the street anymore. She didn't remember what had happened, or how she had gotten back to the room at the hideout.

With great effort she forced herself to sit up on her elbows, as she looked around she paused at the sight which greeted her, Kazma and Kazuma sitting on the floor, playing cards. Despite the pain she smiled that the fact that the two were bonding, the game was Royal swords, the object of the game was to have a higher card than the other could lay down and the one to run out of cards wins.

Kazma kept his face blank as to not give away a hint at how good his hand was, Kazuma on the other hand couldn't stop smiling, each time he tried the grin would snap right back up on his face. Danica grinned, he definitely didn't have a poker face, but he did have a cute one. A muscle on her back suddenly twitched and caught her off guard, she gasped softly and bit her lip.

The small sound caused Kazma to glance up, when he saw Danica trying to sit up he dropped his cards and went to help her "Take it easy darling," he said as he set the pillows against the headboard for her to lean on "Don't strain yourself." He gently lowered her to recline on the pillows, she sighed softly "Thank you, my love, what happened? Everything is a little fuzzy, I can't really recall anything from the market."

Kazuma carefully took hold of Danica's fingers while rubbing the back of her hand with the pad of his thumb "We were attacked by that thing," he said "what did you call it Dad?"

"Love Machine," he replied, to Danica he said "That's the name of the thing Wabisuke is planning on killing me with, he set it loose on the streets as a test run, and by the look of things, I'd say it passed." It suddenly became hard for Danica to breathe "He's what?" she whispered "He killed all those innocent people...and he's going to kill you too? I thought he just wanted your crown!"

"If I'm still alive my people will still have the hope that I'll return to take Wabisuke down, they'd be rebelling for years if they knew their true king was still alive to fight back and then he'd have to kill even more to settle them and that would cost him a lot more than just having me killed would." he said, his gaze shifted to Kazuma, the boy simply sat quietly and listened and watched them. Danica suddenly realized what they had just done "Kazuma, I-"

"It's okay Mom, I already know." he said "Dad told me everything, so I think I'm up to speed on whats going on. And I'm not mad either, I understand that you didn't have much choice in all this." She glared at her husband, who smiled sheepishly back "When I get up you are in SO much trouble mister." she threatened and punched his shoulder.

Kazma faked a flinch "Ow," he complained "You see the kind abuse I have you live with, I do one wrong thing and she starts hitting on me." She leered at him and pushed him off the edge of the bed "You're a big boy Kazma, I'm sure you enjoy it when I hit on you." she said "In fact you once told me you did." He rested his elbows on the bed "Not that kind of hitting!"

Kazuma's quiet snickering turned into full blown laughter, they both looked at him and started laughting too.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Later that same night, Kazuma sat on the bathroom window sill, staring out at the streets that had once been the closest thing to a home he had ever known and reflected on the recent events that had suddenly changed everything. He formed them into an ordered list in his mind:

1) He'd been caught stealing.

2) As he was getting the beating of his life, a woman steps in to defend him from his attackers.

3) Her husband arrives and rescues them both.

4) They feed and take care of him.

5) They ask him to be their son.

6) He says no and makes the biggest mistake of his life in doing so.

7) He changes his answer and becomes their son.

8) He bonds with his mother at the market.

9) They get attacked, she saves him, then he saves her.

10) He learns his parents are the rulers of Oz, and now he's a prince.

It was obviously a lot to take in, from nobody with nothing, to somebody with everything. The real rags to riches story that most believe only exists in fairy tales. He himself was having a hard time fully accepting it, something just didn't seem real-like this was all some elaborate dream and at any moment he'd wake up sleeping in a cardboard box in an alley on fifth street.

The sound of the door creaking open made him jump, Kazma stood in the doorway, his expression one of concern "Kazuma, are you alright?" he asked "You've been in here for an hour." He went to the window and leaned on his arm against the frame "What's up?"

Kazuma looked back out the window "I was just thinking, that's all." he said, the rabbit tilted his head slightly "You want to talk about?" he asked softly. The boy sighed "I was just thinking about what you said earlier, about you being king and that makes me prince and all. It's actually kind of hard to believe-not that I don't believe you or anything like that, but can someone like me really become a prince, a member of royalty, just like that?"

"You doubt yourself."

Kazuma turned to his father, he had a strange expression he couldn't name on his face as he spoke "It would seem we have a lot more in common than just our name's." he said "Before we came here, just after I talked with my grandfather about all this, I looked at myself in the mirror and I doubted myself, even with so much counting on me to come through. But then I realized that if other's could put so much faith in me, why not have faith in myself? Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Kazuma tilted his own head "I think so, if you're saying I should believe in myself." a smile teased the corners of his lips "Thanks Dad, that actually helps quite a bit." The rabbit ruffled the boy's hair "I'm glad I could help," he said, he suddenly reached into his pocket and held out his hand to reveal a leather necklace with a gleaming white tooth "I want you to have this."

He slowly lifted the necklace out of his father's palm and watched the tooth spin slowly in place "What is it?" he asked, "That is the tooth I kicked out of the jaw of the man who tried to kill your mother, I did it just to show her that I would always protect her from anything, and now I give it to you with the same promise attached." Kazuma stared at it in wonder, not only did it serve as a symbol of protection, but of power and devotion as well.

He ran the tip of his finger along the ivory length when Kazma sudden stopped him from touching the tip "Careful," he said "It's still very sharp. I think that dingo sharpened his teeth to get them this sharp, so watch out for that. Now come on, it's late."

Kazuma yawned "Alright." and slipped off the sill with Kazma guiding him with a hand on his lower back while carefully avoiding his wounds further up. Kazuma dropped onto his pallet at the foot of the bed and tucked his arm under the pillow, he looked up however, when Kazma stretched out beside him "Dad?" he asked "What are you doing?"

The rabbit yawned himself as he folded his arms behind his head "Giving your mother the bed, I'll end up holding on to her before morning and I don't want to risk hurting her by mistake." he said "So I'll just sleep down here with you for now. You alright with that?"

"Yeah, I guess so." he said and rolled onto his side "Night Dad, I love you."

Kazma reached over and gently stroked the boy's hair as he slowly fell into sleep's comforting embrace "I love you too Kazuma, sweet dreams kid."


	11. Hacking

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

Please enjoy

R&R

Hacking

A loud knock at the door made Kazma jerk awake, he blinked rapidly to clear the sleep from his eyes as he lurched to his feet and snatched open the door. Yorihiko, the doberman, stood in the doorway with an unhappy look on his face "Hey, what's up?" he asked the dog and rubbed a hand down his face in attempt to wake himself up. The canine growled softly as he spoke "His Greatness wants to go out, he's commanded that you join him while I accompany you." he said "You have ten minutes, be ready in the pit by then." With his message delivered the doberman turned and left.

Kazma closed and locked the door before setting about to get ready. As he pulled on a clean shirt he thought about everything he had learned while he'd been in the underground, it had turned out that most of the men and women who ended up there hadn't any choice in joining Wabisuke's ranks. Yorihiko for instants had been forced into the line of work in order to protect his family after Wabisuke had demanded money he didn't have for his 'protection', he'd been down in the pit for three years and hadn't actually seen his family but received the occasional letter from his baby brother. Kazma made a mental note of who was guilty, and who was a victim.

After tugging on his boots he gently shook Danica "Wake up darling." he whispered softly in her ear. She rolled over to squint up at him "Kazma?" she mumbled "What is it?" He pressed a kiss to her forehead "Nothing, I'm just going out with Wabisuke for now." he whispered "I'll be back as soon as I can. Keep an eye on Kazuma, and stay in here for today-you're in no condition to do anything right now, so just lay here and rest." She nodded sleepily as she began drifting off before she had probably even registered what he'd said, he rolled his eyes with a smile and patted her head.

He slipped out the door quietly and headed for the pit with minutes to spare.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Little did Kazma know, Kazuma had heard every word and formed a plan in his mind as quickly as it had taken his father to dress. The moment the door closed he leaped to his feet as silent as a cat, he carefully put on a shirt without causing himself too much pain, he slipped on a pair of soft-bottom shoes that wouldn't make more noise than bare feet or leave footprints, and ran out the door after his father.

He followed his father like a shadow down the street in the early morning, moving from hiding place to hiding place as he silently trailed behind them. This was a rather normal thing for him, he'd learned how to do this kind of early on in his life, and it was a skill he'd had to use on many occasions.

They glanced over their shoulders before turning down an alley, Kazuma frowned as he waited for the right moment to follow them, and counted to ten in his head. Then he followed, hugging the wall and ducking into every available hiding place as he went, when he saw the door he paused and thought about staying outside, if he didn't know the lay out of the room ahead it could get him caught.

But the image of his mother being hurtled against the wall by the thing Wabisuke had made haunted him, and it gave him the resolve to quietly open the door then slip inside.

Tiptoeing down the stairs Kazuma breathed softly through his mouth, his ears straining to hear the whisper-quiet voices in the room below, the door to which was-thankfully-opened enough for him to squeeze inside. He quickly ducked behind a stack of crates in the corner, his heart pounding so loudly in his chest he was certain his father could hear it from across the room, slowly he peeked around the edge of a crate and watched the scene before him unfold. Carefully taking notes in his head as they spoke.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Kazma threw a brief glance over his should, he caught sight of movement behind the crates.

_What the-!_

"Hey, Cotton-tail," said Wabisuke, his voice drew Kazma back to the situation at hand "Are you even listening? What else could possibly be more interesting than me speaking, dumb animal, I know you've all got short, nearly non-existent attention spans, but try to stay focused." Kazma nodded with a blank expression, he was quickly getting tired of his insults "Yes your Greatness," he replied "As you wish."

With a grim smirk he continued to explain his plan. As it turned out he had a spy working for him in the castle, when the time came to unleash Love Machine into the palace they would create an opening for it to get inside and then direct it to the king himself. Wabisuke would follow close behind and wait until the king was beaten too severely to move-let alone fight back-then he himself would slit the king's throat in front of his people to set an example for all who even thought of crossing him. Although this was gruesome in itself, having his own murder described to him, it was what he told them next that choked him.

"As soon as the king is dead, I'll take my rightful place as the one true ruler of Oz, and as I'm sure even the likes of you know, every king needs a queen. But I don't feel like wasting time on looking for a new one when the current one is human, and a soon-to-be widow." he said "So I'll be taking her as my own, and if she refuses I'll hand her over to my men to _persuade_ her into seeing things my way, a few bruises here and there won't really matter in the long run any way."

It took all of the self-control taught to him by his grandfather not to haul off and snap the man's neck right then and there. The heat of his rage made even the sun seem cold in comparison, this thing standing before him couldn't possibly be human, no person with a beating heart could do the things he had done or speak of abusing a innocent woman for his own pleasure. This-this _thing_ wasn't human, he was the devil himself, a demon of pure hatred and sin. And at that moment Kazma swore that he would put an end to this man's evil, even if it cost him his life.

Wabisuke sat down at the table with a laptop while Kazma and Yorihiko remained where they were, he hooked up a flash drive and began typing almost lazily at the keys, clearly in no hurry. He checked states, system functions, and the health of Love Machine, who stood silently against the back wall with the chains back around his wrists. He stared at Kazma with unblinking eyes, but something about the look surprised him, he saw no hatred or malice in that gaze, instead he saw a longing for freedom and the understand of another.

Kazma frowned slightly at the thought. Could it be possible for this thing to actually feel? Did it really understand what it did or why, did it enjoy or hate killing others? Wabisuke himself had said he was a blend of human and machine, that he was an Artificial Intelligence. It would make sense for him to understand things, to have the potential to know the concept of right and wrong. The question was, did he care one way or the other?

After a half hour had passed Wabisuke stood as he closed the laptop "Alright boys," he said "Lets go back." Kazma quickly held the door open for the other two, positioning himself between them and the crates in the corner. He followed them up the stairs and out onto the street, they cut through the crowd quickly and made it back to the hideout within minutes.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Meanwhile, back at the basement Kazuma waited for the sound of their footsteps to fade before stepping out from behind his hiding place, he froze the instant Love Machine looked up at him. He didn't know just how long they had simply stared at each other, but it felt like ages before he slowly took a step towards the table and stiffened when Love Machine copied his movement. He glanced down to the chains attached to his wrists and ankles, he could move but if Kazuma stayed far away enough he wouldn't be able to reach him.

One step, he followed. Another, again he moved. Over and over Kazuma ever so slowly made his way to the table, he continued to watch Love Machine as he lowered himself down into the chair and let out a pent up breath when the length of chain ended five feet from the other side of the table. Love Machine didn't fight against his bonds but simply stared at the boy with a look of curiosity in his unblinking eyes.

Kazuma opened the laptop, thankfully Wabisuke hadn't shut it down so he didn't need a password, he clicked the flash drive icon and opened the files. He was greatful that for once something his birth mother had taught him was finally coming in handy, she had taught him how to hack, and he was good at it too-even better at it than she had been. He scrolled through the files on Love Machine, reading about the grotesque process that had been used to create him, his strengths and abilities. But all the while he couldn't find what he most needed, a weakness.

Then he spotted something, a coded section of data. The encryption was complex, it would take him some time to crack it, time he didn't have. He sighed, leaning back against the chair he looked at Love Machine, his stare was becoming just a little creepy "It's rude to stare you know." he said, he hadn't actually ment to say his thoughts aloud but he didn't think it would matter. He was wrong, a moment later he looked away and was now studying the wall as if it held some unfathomable secret. He suddenly had an idea, he traced back through the data to confirm his thoughts before turning back to the A.I. "Hey, Love Machine." he said, and his eyes widened slightly when he looked back at him "You-you can understand me, can't you?"

He held his breath as he waited for a response, then suddenly, Love Machine nodded. He nearly shot out of the chair but manage to hold himself down "If...if you can really understand me, then answer me, please." he said slowly, he watched as he tilted his head like he was asking the boy what he wanted to know "Are you in complete control of your actions?"

He shook his head slowly.

"Does Wabisuke, the man who made you, does he make you kill people?"

This time he nodded.

"Do you like doing it?"

He shook his head sharply this time, emphasizing his obvious dislike of the act.

Kazuma held his breath for a moment before asking his next question "Do you have a weakness?" he asked carefully, at first he didn't respond, he simply stared. Then he slowly dipped his head. Yes, he did have a weakness. Now he was getting excited "Can you show me?" He shook his head. "Why not? Can't you tell me?" Love Machine tilted his head, an unspoken answer in his strange eyes. Kazuma held his chin as he thought, then it hit him "You don't know what it is, you only know you have one."

He nodded.

Kazuma looked back at the encrypted data in the file, _I bet that says what his weakness is._ he thought _If only I had the time to break it, then I could figure out how to stop all this before anyone else gets hurt. But for now this will have to do._ He clicked the eject symbol and pulled the flash drive out, he put it in his pocket as he closed the laptop. He headed for the door, but stopped when he heard the rattle of the chains, he turned to see Love Machine straining against his bonds slightly-obviously wanting to leave as well. Kazuma couldn't help the wave of sympathy, he had been made with no other purpose than to kill and fight, he was a prisoner who was forced to commit crimes, a slave to the real monster that is man's twisted desires.

"Look, Love Machine" he began "I don't know how to help you just yet, but I'll try. I'm tired of people getting hurt, so if I can, I'll set you free and then you could do something other than destroy things, you could help people instead. Just hold on a little longer, I'll see you again soon, good-bye." As he quietly made his way up the stairs he could hear him fighting his chains, fighting for his freedom.

He checked the alley through the crack in the door before leaving the basement and running out into the street. He didn't want to be seen heading straight back to the hideout, so he turned down a couple different roads then made his way back to the main street. As he neared the hideout he picked up his pace and ran around the corner-and smack into a wall of flesh.

A hand grabbed his shoulder "I thought so." he said, Kazuma looked up at his father who's eyes were glaring down at him "You're busted Mister." He pushed him slightly towards the hideout door "Inside, now." he ordered "Go straight to the room, don't stop and don't speak to anyone."

The boy didn't argue, there was no point, his father had every right to be angry with him. Kazma followed close behind his son as they walked past the pit and down the hall to their room, Kazuma opened the door and stepped inside, Kazma gently closed it behind himself. Danica looked up from her sewing to the strange sight "My love, what-" he held up a hand, she stopped and waited, something had happened.

Kazma turned Kazuma around to look at him "What _in the WORLD_ were you thinking?" he demanded, his voice wasn't a shout but it wasn't a whisper either "Do you realize you could have been _killed_? You scared the breath out of me Kazuma, what would I have done if Yorihiko or Wabisuke had seen you instead of me? What if that thing, Love Machine, had seen you and had broken or been set free, I wouldn't have been able to stop it. I'm not invincible Kazuma, I don't think I could possibly beat him in a fair fight! So what do you have to say?"

Kazuma hadn't flinched from his verbal reprimand, he stared straight ahead at his father's torso as he spoke "I know what I did was dangerous, I didn't mean to scare you but you wouldn't have let me do this if I had told you, and I wouldn't have gotten this." He pulled the flash drive from his pocket and held it to Kazma, the rabbit's eyes widened "That's..." he trailed off into stunned silence "It's all of Love Machine's files, I read some of it, he _does_ have a weakness, I just don't know what it is yet. That part was coded, but I could break it with a little time." he said "I also learned he doesn't have free will, he thinks but can't stop himself from doing what he's told, he was once a person...like you, or Mom, like me. He knows whats going on, but he's powerless to stop it from happening, and I think we can free him from Wabisuke's control somehow, I'm just not sure how to do that right now."

Kazma sighed "Kazuma, I understand you wanted to help us, but the way you went about it was just too dangerous. You really had me scared." he knelt down with a hand on the boy's shoulder "You and your mother mean the world to me, I can't lose either of you-it would be unbearable to try and go on without the two of you in my life. So don't go running off like that again, alright?" Kazuma smiled "Right, sorry bout that." he replied, he looked down at the flash drive in his hand "But what about this? I'd need a computer to work with if I'm going decrypt that code I saw."

Kazma took the flash drive, could this little thing really hold the answer to defeating Love Machine? It seemed far too easy "I don't know if there is a computer you could get access to around here." he said thoughtfully, then an idea came to him "Wait a minute, maybe Natsuki can help!" Danica frowned "Who?" she asked "I don't think you told me about someone named Natsuki."

He straightened "Remember that half-rabbit I told you about?"

"The one who cut you?"

He nodded "That's the one, she's the leader of the Dancing Doves. They'll have to have a computer to keep track of their schedules and documents, besides she owes me a new shirt." he said "And since you're a dancer it wouldn't be unusually for you to visit a dancing group, you could take Kazuma with you to 'watch' and I'll talk to Natsuki about the computer."

He looked at his son "What do you think Kazuma?" he asked "That sound like a plan to you?" He grinned up at him "I'm in." Danica stood up, wincing slightly "Wait, wait, wait." she said "You want me to go dance with the woman who-A. Cut my husband, B. Flirt with my husband, and lets not forget C. Insulted me to your face. And you want me to take my son with me?" Kazma smiled at the slight pout on her lips, he gently wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed his nose against her's "You know I set her straight, and that you'll always the most beautiful woman in the world." he said in a velvety smooth voice, dripping with honey-like sweetness "So please, will you do it, for me?"

She blushed slightly "Flatterer, you knew I would have done it any way." she said "Of course I'll go, but you'll have a lot of making up to do for this later." He chuckled as he hugged her closer "It'll be my pleasure, my darling." He lowered his lips to her's, dragging her into a slow passionate kiss as she tangled her fingers in his hair. Kazuma grimanced "Eww, gross!" he exclaimed "Can't you two at least give a guy a warning, or wait until I leave the room!"

They both laughed "Oh honey," said Danica "You'll be doing the exact same thing with a girl one day, believe me." Kazma nodded "Yep, and you'll be kissing her no matter who's watching or where you are." The boy shuddered "No thanks, I'll stay single."

**Hey guys, Gale here. I'm so sorry it took so long to get this up, I've had a bad headache for a couple of days and writers block on top of that. I got the idea of giving Love Machine free will from his POV in the movie, if the gov. hadn't sent him to cause trouble he might not have been all that bad-but that's just me, I like to look for the hidden good in people like him. But anywho, after I finish this story I'll start working on the back story for Kazma and Danica. Then I'll make the second story for 'My rabbit king', I'd also like to request a female OC for my next story. If you have one I'd like a name and description in a PM, and PLEASE review, I want to reach 100 reviews before I finish this story. Thanks for reading, until next time, Bye!**


	12. The Dancing Doves

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

R&R

Please enjoy!

The Dancing Doves

Several days after Kazuma's big scare Danica finally convinced Kazma she felt well enough to go out to the Dancing Doves theater, though it had taken most of the morning to do so while he fussed over her, he had even insisted on brushing her hair for her and simply waved off her protests, as well as her hands, when she tried to take back the brush. She sighed with her arms crossed over her chest "Kazma, you just can't do everything for me every time I get hurt, I CAN take care of myself my love." she said, he lifted her hair to reach the tangles underneath "And I can certainly brush my own hair without your help!"

He leaned forward, gently nipping and kissing her exposed neck " I know that my darling," he murmured against her skin and nibbled her earlobe playfully to make her giggle like a schoolgirl "But I want to, I enjoy taking care of you-whether I need to or not. Besides, I let you brush my fur all the time, I think its only fair that you return the favor once in a while, and it gives me an excuse to play with this lovely black waterfall of silk you have."

He buried his face in her soft locks, drawing in her sweet scent as he pressed her roughly against him while his hands splayed over her stomach, he enfolded her in his arms and legs as they sat in the middle of the bed and gently licked a path down the ivory column of her neck to her tender-skinned shoulder. She sighed softly with a smile etched across her face, her eyes sparkled with happiness "You know, Kazuma should be done with his bath any minute now," she said dreamily "We wouldn't want to 'emotionally scar' him for life with our lovey dovey moment, now would we?"

He chuckled almost darkly behind her "No, I guess not. But it's going to be _very_ difficult for me to let go of you at this point my darling." he growled and tightened his grip slightly around her, she grinned naughtily to herself "Well then, in that case, let me help you with that my love." With one swift motion Danica detached herself from Kazma's grasp then stood and turned towards him with a smirk "See? Now that wasn't too hard, now was it?" He responded with a playful growl "That's it, you've asked for it!"

In an instant he grabbed her waist and threw her back down onto the bed, his hands immediately attacking her sides, she squealed in delight as she fought him off as best she could while pinned under him, he laughed and managed to tug up the hem of her shirt to expose her skin to his assault. A yelp tore itself from her throat when his clever fingers dug under her arms and he blew razzberries against the side of her neck "Tha-thats not fair!" she complained "You're too heavy to push off, you're cheating!"

"I'm just simply taking advantage of my strengths in the situation darling!" he replied "That's not cheating, that's called tactics." Tears pooled in the corners of Danica's eyes "No stop, please I can't take it!" she begged "My sides are hurting, you're making me laugh too hard!" Kazma simply ignored her pleas of mercy, instead he kept up his attack on her ribs-until he was suddenly slammed in the back.

He managed to turn over slightly before getting tackled again by his son, he laughed as he wrapped his arm around him and pulled the boy under his greater weight and tried to keep him pinned down to the bed, only to have him squirm his way out of his grasp. Kazuma launched himself at his father, wrapping his arms around his neck and leaning back to pull him down with the sudden shift in weight. Danica sat up and managed to grab Kazma by the waist before both of her boys ended up on the floor together "Mind his back!" she warned "You two don't be so rough with each other-someone's going to get hurt if you're not careful!"

Kazma sat up chuckling with Kazuma clinging to his neck to keep from falling off the bed, he gently pulled the boy around to sit on his lap with a quick jerk and pinned the boy's arms to his sides with his own "Your mother's right, we shouldn't rough house inside where we could break something." he said, Kazuma grinned up at him "If you're not suppose to do it inside the house, then why is it called rough 'housing'?" They both laughed as Kazma ruffled his son's hair.

Danica smiled "If you two boys are done playing around, I'd like my brush back so I can finish with my hair and go to the theater." Kazma meekly handed her the brush, their fingers briefly curling around each other, as she started combing out the final knots she stood "Kazuma, honey, did you brush your teeth?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am." he replied

"Comb your hair?"

"And again, yes ma'am."

"Put on deodorant?"

"Still yes ma'am."

She looked at him sideways "Did you put on clean underwear?"

He blushed bright red "Mom!" he exclaimed "Do I really have to answer that?" She paused, then nodded "Yes. Did you, or not?" he looked away, his bangs overshadowing his eyes "...Yes ma'am." he mumbled. She smiled and tossed her brush onto the dresser "Good, just put your shoes on and we'll get going." Kazma frowned again, as much as they needed Natsuki's help he still didn't like the idea of Danica going to meet the half-rabbit without him, she clearly had a sense of prejudice about her and had openly attacked Danica verbally, it wasn't as if he thought she would _physically_ harm his wife, but words could cut as deep as any blade. Perhaps if he could say something now to help keep her spirits high, maybe the rabbit-woman's sharp tongue wouldn't sting so badly in the end "Darling, my beauty," he began, he wrapped his arms gently around her waist and rested his head against her stomach as she stood before him "I want you to know that, no matter what anyone will ever tell you, I love you more than life itself," he looked up into her eyes as she stroked a hand through his hair "And you are truly a wonderful person, the one and only wonderful person who could ever hold all of my love in your big heart of gold and grace me with the presents your gorgeous angelic soul."

Danica tilted her head slightly to one side "My love, why are you telling me all this?" she asked softly, her fingers trailing up one ear and down the other, making him sigh in content "I just want you to hear my love for you, just like I show you all the time I also need to say it too. And I don't want Natsuki's wrongly directed anger to be able to get passed the barrier of my love for you." She softly kissed his forehead as her nails gently scratched under his chin "Thank you my love, I'm glad you thought to say something so sweet to me because you were worried about how I would take on Natsuki's prejudice rage." she said and hugged her husband with a giggle "You're so thoughtful Fritz, my angel of a rabbit."

They rubbed each other's nose before kissing again, Kazma hugged Kazuma and ruffled his hair after he retrieved his shoes, then they headed for the Dancing Doves theater.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

They walked down the streets together that late afternoon, so late it was nearly evening, less people were about at the hour and soon the lights would flicker on to wait for the up coming darkness. Kazma held Danica's arm tucked into his, his smile held a hint of dreaminess to it as her fingers stroked the hard muscles of his forearm while their hips brushed together ever so slightly every few steps. Kazuma walked quietly beside them, completely oblivious to the heated friction between his parents as he gazed about the city with new eyes, and felt like he were truly seeing it for the first time.

Everything appeared different now that he no longer needed to fear each shadow he passed close to, or have to constantly look over a shoulder and pray no one was following, and now people didn't stare at him with mixed looks of pity, sympathy, and disgust. Now if they happened to glance that him all they seemed to see was a young boy walking with parents slightly too young to be his. But that fact did earn them a few looks here and there, for all of Kazma's wisdom for someone his age he was still all but of twenty-six, while Danica was even younger at twenty-three. Meaning that for Kazuma to be their son, they would have had to have been only thirteen and ten when he was born, but at that age neither had even known the other existed.

But he could care less as it were, he had a family that loved him just as much as he did them, and what everyone else thought didn't matter, nor did it bother him in the least. Sweat trickled down his back even though it wasn't particularly warm out, the linen bandages wrapped around his torso made it a bit too hot for him, so he had thought ahead and worn a short-sleeved orange and green shirt with green shorts and his soft-bottom shoes. The deeper cuts on his back still hadn't scabbed over and were incredibly sore and tender to the touch, it would even sting slightly if he turned or twisted his body just right, and being unable to lay on his back or lean against something had quite quickly become annoying.

"Well, that's it." said Kazma, Kazuma looked up to see a red building with white birds and flowers painted around a doorway blocked only by countless strings of brightly colored glass beads "The Dancing Doves theater, Natsuki should be inside." Danica looked up at her husband and used the hand on his arm to stroke his ribs softly though his shirt "Everything will turn out alright my love," she said and raised up on her toes to plant a quick kiss to the corner of his frowning mouth "We'll get through this and as soon as we do things will all start falling into place, then at the end we can all go home together."

_Home._

The word hung in the air around them, to each it held a different meaning. Happiness, safety, and family. But they all wanted to be home, and if this was the only way to reach that goal, then nothing would stand in their way.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Natsuki stood on the empty stage, looking out into the equally empty tables she imagined how full they'd be in just a few hours and hoped it would bring in the much needed money to get them through another month of protection payments for Wabisuke. She sighed softly, if they couldn't pay the bills as well then Wabisuke wouldn't matter, she would lose her theater to the tax collectors and then she and her girls would be out of work, and out of luck.

Her keen ears heard the soft clicking of the bead curtain being brushed aside as someone entered the front door "Hey," she called out "We're not open yet, you'll have to come back in an hour and-" she stopped when an oddly familiar white face turned the corner, their eyes locked together as instant recognition passed between blue and red eyes alike. She grinned "Well hello again, cutie." she purred "What, pray tell, brings you here to my dance theater? Did you come to watched some real dancing instead of that second rate stuff in Wabisuke's court?" She was surprised when he smiled with a look of pride on his face "Actually, I'm here with my wife and son." he said, he gently pulled a woman out where she could see her "Natsuki, meet my wife, Ebony this is Natsuki. And this is my son, Kazuma."

She glared at the woman, she was gorgeous, simply drop-dead beautiful, and Natsuki hated her. Not only was she married to the most handsome man Natsuki had ever seen, but she was a _human_, and a dancer. Danica smiled back at the she-rabbit "I heard you were a dancer too, I'd love to see you perform. Everyone has told me how good you and your girls are here and I thought it would be nice to learn from one another." she said. Natsuki looked ready to spit venom "You thought wrong," she hissed "Now get out, you're not welcome here."

Kazma decided to step in "Now hold on Natsuki," he began "You shouldn't-" a loud crash followed by a pain-filled scream brought their argument to an end, as one they rushed behind the stage curtains. A young brown fox lay on the floor under a stage weight, her leg was bent at a painful angle "Rika!" gasped Natsuki, she ran to the weight and tried in vain to lift it. Kazma took it from her hands "Here, let me." he heaved it aside like it weighed nothing and the fox groaned in agony. Natsuki knelt beside her "Rika, Rika sweetie!" she asked frantically "Tell me what hurts, I'll help you however I can."

Danica knelt on the fox's other side "Natsuki, I can help her. I used to set broken bones all the time." she said, Natsuki snarled "Get away from her! Don't touch her!" she yelled.

"NATSUKI!"

Kazma's voice made everyone jump, she swung around to him and cringed at the sight of anger deep in his eyes. Although his body didn't betray any rage, she could simply feel the heated aura radiating off his form as he leaned over her "Just let her help, this girl is in pain, are you really going to let her suffer for your hatred of humans?" he said "If you don't get her leg fixed soon the damage could get worse than it already is, and it could become permanent." Whether it was her fear of his wrath or she had listened to reason, Kazma didn't know, but she turned to Danica "Fix her." she demanded "Please, just fix it."

Danica nodded, she gently ran her hand along the broken leg, squeezing lightly here and there while the fox whimpered and clutched Natsuki's hand. Her hand rubbed one spot several times, she bit her lip and looked up to Kazma as he hovered close by "My love," she said "I'm not strong enough to set it, I need your help." He knelt beside her, looking at the leg uncertainly "I don't how to do this." he said softly "What if I make it worse?" She smiled and placed his hands on the girl's leg then put her hands over his "I'll guide you, just follow my lead and we'll set it together." she turned to Natsuki and Kazuma "I'm afraid this will hurt her at first, I need you two to hold her down." They nodded, Natsuki held her shoulders as Kazuma pinned her good leg down, when they nodded Danica took a deep breath and squeezed Kazma's hands.

Rika shrieked as Kazma shifted the bone with his wife's guidance, a sickly snap signalled it was set, Kazuma and Natsuki were struggling to keep her down as she screamed. Danica trailed a hand over her leg, finding no more breaks she looked to Natsuki "We'll need a thick wooden or metal rod and something to tie it to her leg, do you have anything like that?" She nodded and ran off to retrieve it, Danica took Rika's trembling hand in her's and gave it a gentle squeeze. The fox looked up at her "Thank you, it doesn't hurt so bad anymore." Kazma leaned over her "It's Rkia, right? Can you tell me who dropped the weight on you?" he asked, she frowned up at him "What?" she looked scared "You mean someone did this to me on purpose?"

Kazma nodded to the stage weight "The rope on that weight was cut, someone dropped it on you." Natsuki returned with a metal rod and several scarfs "Will these work?" she asked, Danica nodded "Yes, those are perfect." she said and took them from her, she placed the rod against Rika's leg and tied it in place with the scarfs "There, all you can do now is stay off that leg completely. Is there somewhere she can rest for a while?" Natsuki pointed to a hallway she just came from "All my dancers live here, Rika's room is the last one on the left." Kazma picked up the fox with the greatest care "I'll take her." he said "Kazuma, come open the door for me."

As the two boys and the young fox disappeared Natsuki slowly turned to Danica "Why?" she asked "After the way I treated you, the things I said about you, how could you just put all that aside and still help me? Why?" Danica smiled a small, sad smile "Because I know you don't really hate me." she replied "I know you say you do, but I think that if you gave some of us a chance you'd see that we're not all bad. At first I didn't trust Fritz as far as I could throw him, but after I started opening up to him I realized that I'd come to love him with all my heart. I believe that you and I could become friends if we both tried, it would be a rocky start for a while but I'm willing to try, if you are."

The she-rabbit's face was unreadable as she spoke "I don't think so," she said "I won't speak badly of you again and I'll try to understand humans a little more, but we won't become friends that easily." Danica nodded, showing that she understood and was pleased at the turn in her thinking. Natsuki bit her lip though "But, I still need help." she said reluctantly "Rika was suppose to preform the final dance tonight, and we don't have a back-up since her understudy got sick with food poisoning yesterday. So as much as this will bruise my pride, will you finish out the night for us?"

Danica nodded "Of course, I'd be honored to." she said "But, may I ask a favor? Its nothing big really, but it is of great importance." The she-rabbit paused, eyeing Danica "What did you have in mind?" she asked, her tone warning she was on thin ice. Danica's face became serious, her body ridged "I need to ask to borrow a computer for Kazuma, he has something that can be of great help to everyone in Oz, I can't say more for I fear that everything we've set out to do could be for nothing if we're found out." she said and bowed her head "Please I'm begging you to help us, we can't do this alone." Natsuki stared at her in shock, then something clicked in her mind as she remembered something Fritz had said to her that day back at Wabisuke's court...

_"I'm only here to protect someone and it isn't Wabisuke."_

She gasped inward "You're..." she trailed off, not daring to say her thoughts out loud, she coughed as if to clear her throat "Yes, if you dance tonight I'll give you my laptop." She held out a hand to Danica "Deal?" Danica smiled and took her hand with a firm grip "Deal." she replied.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

As it neared midnight Danica finally stepped off the stage and into Kazma's arms, she wrapped her arms around him to hold him for a hard kiss before pulling back to smile up at him "How was it, did you like it?" she asked, he twirled her around and she laughed softly "I loved it, my darling." he replied and nipped at her neck. "Ahem." someone cleared their throat, they turned to see Natsuki standing next to the door with Kazuma-who cringed at the sight of his parents kissing. She handed Danica a laptop "Here, just like I said, it's all your's." she said, she turned to Kazma "Hey Fritz, can I talk to Ebony alone for a minute? It's kind of important." He looked to Danica "Darling?" when his wife nodded he smiled and wrapped an arm around Kazuma's shoulders as he took the computer from his mother "Alright, we'll wait for you outside. But be quick about it, we've only got twenty minutes before we're locked out of the court."

Natsuki waited until they were gone before turning to Danica, she held out a velvet cloth wrapped up in a bundle "Here, take it, to protect yourself and your family." she said and pressed it into Danica's hands "Don't open it until your alone, like in one of those rooms down in the court. Now hurry up and go, don't want you getting locked out." she winked. Dainca smiled and hugged the she-rabbit "Thank you Natsuki." she whispered, then smiled good-bye and ran after her husband and son.

Out on the street she caught up to them on the curb, she wrapped her arm around Kazma's as she took her place by his side, he squeezed her gently "What did she want to talk about darling?" he asked, she pointed down at the velvet with her eyes when tucked it away in her bag "I'll tell you about it later, but I think I might have gotten through to her." Kazma smiled slightly "She'd make a good ally, we should keep in touch." he said and pointed to the laptop Kazuma was carrying "And this will be a great help to us, we'll have to thank her after all this is over." She nodded and Kazuma grinned "It won't be long now, Love Machine's code is as good as cracked." he said.

As the street lights flickered into full brightness they entered the court together with the hopes of ending everything in their minds.


	13. Tales of my fears

My rabbit king

By Princess Thil Galel

I DO NOT OWN

Thank you

R&R

Enjoy

Tales of my fears

Danica spun on the ball of her foot and sank low into a bow, as the crowd roared and the music ended she walked off the mat to the kitchen. With a sigh she lifted her long hair off her sweating neck and tossed it over her shoulder, she grabbed a glass on the drying rack and poured herself some grape juice as she leaned back against the counter "I tell you Naomi," she said to the blue cat as she filled and passed out trays to the waitresses "It gets so hot down here, I'm surprised we haven't all fried in this heat." The cat purred with a chuckle "I know what you mean, its been unusually hot inside lately." she said "I wonder if Death Slinger is going-"

"Ebony."

Both women turned to see the speaker, it was Yorihiko's pack brother Katsuhiko, a green mixed breed dog with one eye, because of an injury he received in a fight long ago his upper lip was stuck in a permanent snarl that could scare even the bravest of souls. Danica jumped slightly when he glared at her like a piece of meat on the table "Y-yes?" she stammered "Can I help you with something, sir?"

"Death Slinger wants you to serve him and his associate in a meeting this afternoon." he growled, leaning closer he grabbed Danica's vest and jerked her forward "And if you're late, even by a minute, I'll tear you apart-I don't care who's woman you are, the little bunny isn't going to save your hide from me sweetheart." Danica couldn't move, fear paralyzed her as she gazed at the dog's single eye, the pupil's dilation and the sour smell of his breath on her face spoke of the drug he'd most likely been using only minutes ago. He shook her "Well, do you understand me?" he snarled, when she tried to pull away Katsuhiko's hand came up and backhanded her across the face.

She cried out in pain and gasped when he slung her down to her knees to grab a fist full of her hair, Danica grabbed at his hand but couldn't get a grip as he jerked her head back "I said 'did you hear me'?" he yelled "Answer me when I'm talking to you, you stupid broad!"

"Get your hands off my Mom!"

Danica's eyes widened with surprise and horror when Kazuma came out of nowhere and leaped onto the dog's back, his arm immediately formed a choke hold around Katsuhiko's neck, the big dog gagged as he released her hair to grab the boy's arm and attempt to pry him loose. But Kazuma wouldn't relent, years of fighting for his life on the unforgiving streets taught him how to fight someone bigger than yourself and how to hold on like your life depended on it, and in this case it did. The life of his mother had been threatened, this man was his enemy and he wasn't about to let go until either the dog passed out from lack of oxygen or he tore Kazuma's arm off.

Katsuhiko's eye buldged as his lulling tongue started to turn blue, when he gasped but no air came he panicked, he slammed his back against the wall to knock Kazuma off, he gasped at the pain of having his still healing back banged against a stone wall but didn't let go, instead he tightened his grip and leaned back to shift the dog off balance. Katsuhiko stumbled, wheezing as he pulled frantically at Kazuma's arm, when he managed to loosen him slightly he bit down on the boy's arm, Kazuma screamed in agony. The dog snatched him over his shoulder, he raised his fist to strike and slammed him in the stomach, "Kazuma!" Danica felt nothing, she was numb with rage as she pulled a dagger free from it's hiding place in her top and lunged at the dog with a screech of motherly fury.

She crashed into him, knocking the dazed, oxygen deprived dog to the floor, she smashed his face against the ground and drove the blade down. The gleaming tip hung over his remaining eye "You may slap me, you may hit, you may kick me when I'm down," she hissed "But you DO NOT EVER TOUCH MY SON! If you ever come near him again I'll kill you, and as for Fritz," she smirked cruelly down at the green dog "Wait till he see's the bite mark on his son's arm, you'll see just how soft my 'bunny' is when he wipes the floor with _your_ hide."

She stood and pulled Kazuma to his feet, with an arm wrapped around him Danica lead him out of the kitchen and down the hall to their room, the moment the door closed she rounded on him "What were you thinking, he was going to kill you!" she yelled, then sank to her knees as she crushed him firmly against her "Don't you ever, _ever_, do that again." she sobbed "I couldn't bear it if something happened to you honey, you're my little boy, your not allowed to get hurt. You hear me?" Kazuma wrapped his good arm around his mother as she cried quietly on his shoulder "I'm not that little." was all he managed to say, then something else occurred to him "Hey Mom, why do you always call me 'honey'?"

Wiping her eyes on the back over her hand with a sniff she smiled at him "Because, your sweet and you've got a heart of gold." she said "And what is honey?" he blinked "Uh...sweet and gold?" She tapped his nose gently "Exactly." she replied "Let's go have a look at that arm of your's, okay?"

As he followed her to the bathroom he asked "Can we not use the alcohol?"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Kazma was released from his guard duties for the afternoon, when he had asked why Wabisuke's only reply was 'I have guest coming.' the rabbit shook his head, there was just no understanding a crazy person. As he passed one of the tables occupied by the dog pack they were laughing at the one-eyed dog with green fur, the oldest in the group, a dalmatian, cackled "I still can't believe you got beaten up by a child and then scolded at knife-point by his mother!" he laughed till he could barely breathe "That's the most embarrassing thing I've ever heard!"

He slowed his pace as he passed to listen, the green dog, who was clearly nursing a headache, growled "Shut up!" he snapped. Yorihiko snorted "That's what you get for using drugs, they're bad for your health, and in cases like your's, your pride." he glanced up and saw Kazma. He nodded a greeting then nudged the dog next to him, every head turned to stare at him with worried eyes, the only one who didn't was the green dog.

Kazma stepped up to the table and leaned on his hand beside the dog, another dog tapped him with an elbow to get his attention "What?" he snapped, then nearly chocked when he realized who he was speaking to "Oh, I uh...M-my apologies, sir, I didn't know-"

"Save it," Kazma cut in "I'm not here for your babbling." He leaned closer to the dog's ugly, scarred mug "Now tell if these ears of mine _somehow_ misheard you boys over here, but did someone just happen to mention you messing with a kid and their mother?" his nose was barely an inch from the dog's now as he spoke in a low, threatening voice that made each canine shudder with natural fright "You better hope to _God_ that I heard wrong, because the only kid in this place is _mine_, and if I find so much as a scratch on him or my wife, I'll rip you limb from limb!" He straightened with a friendly smile "I hope we understand each other, Katsuhiko right?" he said, with a wave over his shoulder Kazma continued on his way "That goes for all of you boys. Nice talking with ya'."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

The room was dark when Kazma entered, the only sourse of light came from the computer sitting on Kazuma's lap and only the sound of his fingertips tapping rapidly at the keys could be heard, his eyes never left the screen as Kazma stood beside him. The rabbit spotted the bandage around his right forearm "You okay kid?" he asked, when the boy replied he seemed to only be half aware someone was even there "I'm fine," he said "Stop talking to me, I'm trying to concentrate."

Kazma blinked at the rude statement but let it slide, knowing the boy didn't mean for it to offend him "Well where's your mother?"

"Bathroom." he clipped out.

Kazma glanced at the bathroom door then flick on the bed side lamp "Don't sit in the dark with that thing," he said before heading into the bathroom to search for his wife.

He found her soaking silently in the tub, pearly bubbles hid her from the neck down as he sat down beside her, his fingers trailed along an arm resting on the rim of the tub and smiled as she turned to him. He cupped her cheek gently "Darling," he said "Are you alright? Were you hurt?" when she shook her head he sighed in relief, but paused when he saw something in her eyes that gripped at his heart like icy claws. What he saw, was fear.

"What troubles you, my darling?" he asked "What's happened?"

"Wabisuke, he wants me to serve him and one of his friends this evening, alone."

Kazma grit his teeth "I don't like the way that devil look's at you." he growled.

"Nor do I." she replied, turning onto her side Danica rested her chin on her forearm on the edge of the tub "But it will be over soon. Soon there'll be no Death Slingers or Wabisukes to bother us again, it'll be just us. You, me, Kazuma, your mother and grandfather, and even your baby sister soon enough." Something strange filled her voice as she continued to speak "Everything will be fine," her murmured "We'll be safe again, everything will be like before." Kazma softly kissed her forehead "Darling, please don't." he said, but she didn't seem to hear him.

"But it won't be like is was, nothing will. I'm afraid in the one place I'd always felt safe, I can't stop seeing that dog's face in our room-he still haunts me!" she cried "It isn't that I doubt you, or Kazuma, or even myself. But my fears, my terrors, my horrors-no matter how deep the shadows are that I place them in, they keep coming back in my nightmares!"

"What nightmares?" he asked "Please don't hide from me."

She drew a trembling breath "I see him again, Riichi, in our room. But as I look down at his feet, it's not me laying dead on the floor, it's you!" she said "When I look back at him I no longer see him, I see myself holding the knife. The other me raises her the blade to her throat and as she starts slicing her own neck she yells at me, saying that it's all my fault that you're dead. That if I had been brave enough to jump, brave enough to cut myself, brave enough to hold my head under long after I was out of breath, you would still be alive.

"When I wake up in a cold sweat and see you beside me I fear it's all come true, I look to see if your throat is still whole, I rest my head on your chest just to feel you breathe, and hold my breath between each beat of your heart because I'm afraid that the next one won't come." She looked at him with pleading eyes "Kazma, my love, I'm scared." The words, so simple and almost child-like, made his chest ache "My darling," he began "There's no reason to fear-"

"Yes there is!" she said loudly, she'd turned to face him fully, glaring at him with tears that refused to fall "Every night I fear will be our last, how can you tell me not to be afraid?" The tears slipped free at last "It's like it's happening all over again Kazma, I'm losing everything I love because I'm not strong enough to protect you." she cried softly, Kazma fisted a hand in her hair as he pulled tightly into his embrace "Do you think you are the only one who has seen such nightmares?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper "Every night, for days now, I have that dream about the day we first met. But it's different, and it scares me, each time I have it it seems more real and I wake in a cold sweat."

He slowly recounted the terror stalking his dreams "It stars after the MMA tournament, I don't see how it ends but I know it's over. I look up at the sky, the clouds are gathering as they begin turning dark with rain, I decide to take a different trail back home-even though I'd never been down the path or know just exactly where it leads and knowing I won't make it back before the storm hits. I take it anyway. As the rain comes in sheets I pull up my hood, I can see the fork in the road that'll take me straight home, but again I go the other way-almost as if something is leading me, quite literally, down the path of Fate. That's when I come to the cliff, I don't look up at first, instead I stare at the sight of white feathers littering the puddles on the ground and when I finally look up, my heart seems to stop. I see you standing on the edge, ready to jump like before, but something's different in the dream. You're looking up instead of down, arms reaching out to a light hidden in the clouds, screaming something I can't understand. Then I see them, your family, waiting in the clouds behind a gate of pearls, calling you to come home. You had wings in my dreams, but they're horribly broken, twisted and limp even as you try to lift them to fly.

"Down below, where the river should be, are these ugly, terrifying creatures screaming at you to jump, to come with them and let them take the pain away. That's when you start to move towards the edge, I scream at you to stop, telling you you'll never make it to the gate with those wings. But you're desperate, when you won't listen to me I somehow put myself between you at the cliff and fall to my knees begging. _Begging_ you not to go, pleading I can't live without you, without my angel. But you push me aside like I was only a wisp of smoke, and as you try again to jump I grab you and pull you back. Then I threaten to jump after you, saying I'd rather die with you than let you throw your live away. You starting cry, saying you can't live alone anymore, that it's just too painful. So, I pull you into my arms, holding on for dear life itself, and I say 'Then I'll be your wings, I'll carry you home when the time is right.' then, I wake up."

He pulled back just enough to see her eyes "I'm never sure when I come back from that dream that I managed to keep you here, I'm afraid I failed you-that I _will_ fail you." he said "That is what I fear, not being there for you when you need me." Danica wiped her eyes, blinking away the remaining tears "You'll never fail me Fritz," she said "I know you won't." He smiled softly and kissed her forehead before straightening "Guess I'll let you finish," he said "Just be careful tonight, okay?"

She gave him a pleasant smile that made butterflies spring to life in his stomach "I'm always careful." she said.


End file.
